Can Netanyahu invoke sovereign immunity to evade the arrest warrant issued by the ICC?
I listened to some experts, and I think the answer is no. But I’m not sure why.
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By the way, I’m not sure if it’s more relevant “sovereign immunity” or “diplomatic immunity”. Answers are welcome for each case.
I read it. To answer, I don’t think Netanyahu would ever be arrested due to the Hague Invasion Act, which basically states that if Netanyahu was brought to the Hague to stand trial, the US would invade the Netherlands.
@luigirovatti The American Service-Members’ Protection Act has never been tested yet.
It’s an interesting hypothetical whether the US would directly violate another NATO state’s national sovereignty in order to “rescue” a credible war criminal.
Any initial arrest and detention could be in any number of participating signatory states. The transfer to the Hague is done later for the purpose of holding the actual trial. In theory, the US could intervene in whichever state carries out the arrest.
It’s pretty wild to me that the “Hague Invasion Act” also extends to any allied non-US actors.
My guess is that Netanyahu will just avoid going anywhere where he could theoretically be arrested. It’s pretty clear that many of the Rome Statute signatories would be reluctant to fulfil their treaty obligations anyway, and would rather avoid any embarrassment and pressure by simply not hosting Netanyahu in the first place.
If anyone is in any doubt that war crimes are being committed in Gaza they should listen to the testimony of the British surgeon Nizam Mamode who recently returned from working in Gaza.
The question is how can the world ensure human values are maintained when sovereign states choose to disregard them. It is in everyone’s interest that the world doesn’t slide into a moral abyss.
No one is going to arrest the guy, warrant or not. Everyone would be too scared of the backlash and inevitable baseless accusations of anti-semitism to do their duty.
I don’t think he would ever be arrested. If he was, I don’t think he would be convicted. I don’t agree with everything he did, but in the end most of it will likely be dismissed as acceptable (although horrible). From what I understand the deaths and damage are much lower than typical urban warfare, I’m not sure if that is true, I heard it from someone very biased. The prolonged suffering is unimaginable to me though. I hope it ends soon.
The ICC has had a bit of a checkered past. What I find interesting in this latest action is that they wanted an arrest warrant out for the Israelis but not for the Hamas leaders. Wasn’t it Hamas that viciously attacked Israel, specifically targeting, torturing, and killing civilians, even taking a bunch as hostages? It seems that if they are upset about Israel killing civilians they need to be fair down the middle and go after Hamas as well. For that matter they could go after Iran for giving arms and support to Hamas for their initial attack, as well as arming Hezbollah and the Houthis. But then, one of the claims against the ICC is their bias and racism.
I imagine Netanyahu would not be touched if he ventured out as the head of his country.
@seawulf575 ” What I find interesting in this latest action is that they wanted an arrest warrant out for the Israelis but not for the Hamas leaders.”
No. The ICC named numerous Hamas leaders in their investigation, except they’ve all since been killed. You can’t arrest someone if they’re dead. Nothing to do with “bias” or anything else you wrote.
@JLeslie ” From what I understand the deaths and damage are much lower than typical urban warfare”
They’re the highest in any conflict for decades.
“I’m not sure if that is true, I heard it from someone very biased.”
Have a wild guess.
^^So, I googled a little, because I am curious to research the facts. I found this article https://www.newsweek.com/israel-has-created-new-standard-urban-warfare-why-will-no-one-admit-it-opinion-1883286 which supports what Israel reports.
If you have any links on stats for the Gaza war compared to other urban wars I’d be interested to look at them. I’ll google for myself more later.
I’m not trying to say that just because it has happened before it makes the deaths acceptable, only that urban warfare is always horrible and getting up to the standard of war crimes might be a very steep mountain to climb.
I don’t defend Netanyahu, rather I am only commenting the legal standard of war crime. I have my doubts he would be convicted.
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