Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have met with other officials to discuss how to stave off possible arrest warrants against them by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
They discussed on Thursday “whether to set up a commission of inquiry into the October 7 attacks and the Gaza war,” the Times of Israel reported.
Israeli “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today held an additional consultation with the participation of the relevant political echelon and the Attorney General (Gali Baharav Miara) on the issue of the International Criminal Court,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, cited by the Anadolu news agency.
The Attorney General “reiterated her position regarding the establishment of a State Commission of Inquiry to examine the humanitarian situation in Gaza even though, according to the view of the Attorney General herself, there is no certainty that establishing this commission would lead to the cancellation of the request to issue the warrants,” the statement reportedly added.
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‘Lower-Level’ Commission
The Times of Israel said Netanyahu reportedly preferred the establishment of a “lower-level governmental commission of inquiry or some other type of panel that would not be a state commission, the most independent type of panel capable of probing government conduct.”
It added that according to Netanyahu’s office “even in (Baharav-Miara’s) opinion, there is no certainty that forming such a commission will lead to the cancellation of the request to issue the warrants.”
“Therefore, several additional options were discussed in the meeting,” the statement said.
‘War Crimes’
In May, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan announced that the court filed applications for arrest warrants against several Israeli leaders and leaders of the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza.
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Khan said he had “reasonable grounds to believe that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and Yoav Gallant, the Minister of Defence of Israel, bear criminal responsibility for the following war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least 8 October 2023.”
If arrest warrants are issued, Netanyahu and Gallant would be unable to travel to any of the 124 member countries of the ICC, where its rulings are binding.
Israel does not recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction. The court, established in 2002, accepted Palestine as a member after 13 years.
(PC, Anadolu)
Another white wash (or blood wash) papier-mâché pretend “inquiry” to desperately demonstrate “Israel’s” robust “care” about international law, blah blah blah. The ICC (and the ICJ) ARE the highest court under international law.