“Israeli” Party Leader’s Support for ICC Probe Triggers Uproar

The ICC’s Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced in a statement last week that her office would formally probe the atrocities committed by the “Israeli” military against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the besieged Gaza Strip, and East al-Quds [Jerusalem] since 1967.

Bensouda had earlier said that a five-year preliminary examination of the “situation in the state of Palestine” had provided her with “reasonable basis” to launch a war crimes investigation into "Israeli" military actions in the besieged Gaza Strip as well as "Israeli" settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.

The ICC verdict was condemned by the entity but praised by Palestinians and international rights organizations.

Nitzan Horowitz, chairman of the “Israeli” left-wing Meretz party, said on Saturday that while he was pained by the International Criminal Court’s opening of a war crimes probe against the “Israeli” entity, “There were grounds for the decision.”

Urging Tel Aviv to cooperate with the Hague-based tribunal, Horowitz said the investigation was “justified” as there were things that should not have been done and that there was massive damage done to the civilian population.

“The solution for us is not to say that the Hague is anti-Semitic, but rather to advance negotiations with the Palestinians that bring about a solution. Then there will be no reason for the Hague,” he added.

Asked whether the decision had crossed a red line, Horowitz said, "The red line is that there are no negotiations with the Palestinians and we're continuing to build settlements like there's no tomorrow, and then we wonder why there are steps taken against that."

Horowitz’s comments sparked widespread uproar from “Israeli” lawmakers, mostly on the right, as well as other political parties.

Gideon Sa’ar, head of the New Hope party, dismissed the remark as “miserable” and urged Horowitz to apologize for “supporting an anti-Semitic decision.”

Ayelet Shaked, a senior member of Yamina MK, said her party would not join a coalition with Meretz, saying Horowitz was an “embarrassment for the Knesset” as he had justified the ICC’s “political and anti-Semitic activity persecuting IDF soldiers.”

Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz also criticized Horowitz for his “unacceptable” remark.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, an extreme-right candidate who leads the Otzma Yehudit, said he had called on the entity’s top court to open an investigation against Horowitz on suspicion of “treason.”

Last month, the ICC confirmed that the territories occupied by the entity in a 1967 war were subject to its jurisdiction.

“Israeli” media reports said the International Criminal Court would send Tel Aviv a letter next week and formally detail the scope of its war crimes investigation against Palestinians, with the entity then having only 30 days to respond.

The “Israeli” entity’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and Gantz have reportedly begun reaching out to counterparts throughout Europe to galvanize support against the case.

Palestine is a party to the ICC’s founding Rome Statute and has long carried out diplomatic efforts for an investigation into the war crimes by the entity in the occupied territories.

Both “Israel” and the United States have refused to sign up to the ICC, which was set up in 2002 to be the only global tribunal trying the world’s worst crimes.