Israel breathed a sigh of relief after the ICC judges went on a summer vacation of several weeks, without deciding to open a criminal investigation against it on charges of war crimes it committed against the Palestinians.
The newspaper "Yediot Aharonot" indicated that while Israel was awaiting the court’s decision, the latter decided, on Friday evening, that the judges should go out on their annual summer vacation, and postpone the decision.
The Prosecutor of the Court, Fatou Bensouda, had demanded the opening of a war crime investigation committed by the occupation army against the Palestinians. As a pre-emptive measure, Israel prepared a secret list of its senior officials and officers expected to be held accountable and arrested if they were abroad.
Bensoda announced last May that there is a basis for launching an investigation into "war crimes" committed in Palestine, including the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
And if the court recognizes the authority of Bensouda to open the investigation, this will put Israeli officials, including the prime minister, ministers, the chief of the army staff, heads of local councils in the settlements, and others, before criminal procedures and possibly arrest warrants.
And if Tel Aviv decides in this case to boycott the court and not cooperate with it, then the latter may issue secret detention orders against Israelis, without necessarily knowing it about them, which requires Israel to take care about the travel of its officials and senior officers abroad in anticipation of their arrest, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.
The occupation authorities intend to issue an order to everyone whose name appears on this secret list to refrain from traveling abroad, if the International Criminal Court opens an investigation on war crimes suspected that Israel and its forces have committed it in the Palestinian territories during the years of its occupation.
The newspaper pointed out that the court decided to postpone the decision on the matter until after a possible Israeli decision regarding the annexation of settlements in the occupied West Bank, as well as until after the US presidential elections scheduled for next November, and to know whether President Donald Trump will have a second term or not. .
And last month, Trump imposed sanctions on ICC officials for seeking to investigate possible US war crimes in Afghanistan, as well as with Washington's allies, including Israel, according to the same source.
Trump's decision included imposing economic sanctions on court officials involved in directly investigating US officials, and suspending the issuance of entry visas for them and their families.
The Israeli newspaper did not mention the date of the end of the summer vacation for the International Criminal Court, but the Hebrew "Wala" website said that the court will return to work in mid-August.