The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas Military Chief Mohammad Deif on Nov. 21. These warrants are a result of the ICC accusing the leaders of war crimes committed during and following Oct. 7, 2023 as part of the ongoing Israel-Hamas War.
Although issued, ICC arrest warrants do not guarantee arrests of the leaders, as the ICC has no police force of its own and relies on countries to turn in those with arrest warrants for trial in the Netherlands. Netanyahu and Gallant must restrict where they travel so that the ICC won’t arrest them, as many countries have said they will comply. Countries such as the United States and Hungary are among the few countries that will defy the ICC’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, but most other countries have said they will comply.
“I do think that this was expected,” Jewish History Department Chair Dan Rosenthal said. “Given everything that we’ve seen so far, starting with the prosecutors’ indictments, I think most observers expected there to be arrest warrants issued. I think there was some surprise that the judges voted unanimously, three-zero, in favor of issuing arrest warrants.”
Israel stated in August that it killed Deif in a July airstrike, and confirmed to Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat this month after Hamas disputed this claim. The ICC also previously sought warrants for Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, who were eliminated by Israel in July and Oct. 2024, respectively. ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan requested the arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and Deif (as well as the late Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar) in May because (as he said in a statement on the ICC’s website) he believed that they had criminal responsibility for war crimes committed on Oct. 7, 2023.
The ICC was established in 2002 in The Hague, Netherlands as an organization to hold world leaders accountable for crimes when other countries are unable to. The treaty agreed upon by ICC member countries, The Rome Statute, gives international jurisdiction over four types of crimes: crimes against humanity, genocide, crimes of aggression and war crimes. 124 countries have ratified it, and 34– including the U.S. and Israel –have signed it but have not ratified it.
Although these warrants come over a year since the beginning of the war, many believe this timing is intentional.
One person who believes that the warrants have an intention beyond arrest is senior Noam Klein. Klein thinks that the ICC’s primary objective is to show its biases toward the leaders in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“I feel like more than anything the ICC is just trying to send a message,” Klein said.
Additionally, the warrants for Gallant, Netanyahu and Deif were released at the same time, indicating that they are connected to one another. Although all of these people are tied to the same conflict, it has sparked controversy, with many being upset that the ICC has compared the crimes of these figures.
“Anyone comparing a democratic nation that promotes western values to terrorists loses any legitimacy,” middle school Hebrew teacher Guy Koren said in an email interview. Koren also believes that the warrants being issued are a “big blow” to how the public views Israel and the war, because many people don’t conduct research and will view these warrants as proof for their opinions.
“In my opinion, it is as far from objective proof as can be,” Koren said in the email interview.
While the next steps in the Israel-Hamas Conflict are unknown, many agree that the warrants sent out by the ICC were uncalled for and are baseless.
“I think it’s just tragic, more than anything, that there’s this misconception going around that Israel has violated international law somehow in Gaza,” Klein said. “I just think that’s a sad misconception.”
