Report: Israel Blackmailing ICC, US over Possible Arrest Warrant

Several media outlets reported last month that the ICC could charge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several other top-ranking officials with war crimes over the ongoing military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

Israel's military onslaught against the Gaza Strip has come under increasing scrutiny and has been widely criticized – even by the US and several European states.

According to Gaza authorities, Israeli strikes have killed more than 34,500 people, mostly civilians. In January, the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that it was “plausible” that Israeli forces had committed genocide in the enclave.

According to Israeli and US officials who spoke to Axios reporter Barak Ravid, the Israeli government told the Joe Biden administration that, if arrest warrants are issued, it will consider the Palestinian Authority responsible and will retaliate with strong action against it.

One possible measure could be to freeze the transfer of tax revenues that Israel collects for the Palestinian Authority, Axios has claimed. Without these funds, the Palestinian Authority would go bankrupt, it added.

Another possible course of action would be “an official decision to punish the Palestinian Authority, which could lead to its crumble”, a senior Israeli official told Axios.

The Israeli leadership believes the threat of ICC arrest warrants to be real, the publication added. The outlet did not specify what action was under consideration by Israel.

According to Axios, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Biden last week to stop the ICC from pursuing him, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi. The Biden administration reportedly conveyed to ICC officials that arrest warrants against the Israeli leaders would be a mistake.

Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, and does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction. However, should a warrant in Netanyahu’s name be issued, his travel could be restricted, as the 124 countries that recognize the court may consider themselves obliged to arrest him.