If US and Israel Don’t Honor the Laws of War, Nobody Will
Arrest warrants against Israelis by the International Criminal Court would raise larger questions about the laws the US helped write to protect civilians.
The International Criminal Court: Ugly building, noble goal.
Photographer: Josh Walet/AFP/Getty Images
The United States and its ally Israel could soon get awkward tidings from the International Criminal Court in The Hague. And as in some previous cases, Washington will be tempted to do the convenient rather than the principled thing, dismissing the tribunal as irrelevant and thereby undermining one of the greatest achievements of postwar American leadership: the development of international humanitarian law.
The ICC is the world’s only supranational tribunal that can try individuals for war crimes and other atrocities. As such, it’s now thinking about issuing arrest warrants for alleged crimes committed in Israel and the Gaza Strip before and after Oct. 7. Controversially, it may target leaders of both Hamas and Israel, possibly even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.