Will Netanyahu be tried in The Hague?

What has actually happened? The Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, Karim Ahmad Khan (he is British, born in Edinburgh, studied at King's College), requested an arrest warrant for three Hamas leaders - Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammed Deif, Yahya Sinwar (crimes against humanity, mass murder, sexual violence, torture, etc, hostage-taking, sexual violence, torture, etc.) and Netanyahu, along with his Defense Minister Gallant (creating intolerable living conditions, including starvation, threats to life and deliberate murder as a war crime, deliberate attacks on civilian concentration areas, etc.).

There are two important lessons to be learned from this

First, sometimes you have to think first. This is what we, as a state, do when we do not give free rein to emotions and feelings of revenge. We do not deliberately and consciously attack Russian hospitals, kindergartens, schools, and civilian buildings in general. Even if Russia tries to accuse us of it. We do not torture prisoners and hold them in accordance with all international law. We do not ignore recommendations on the use of foreign weapons.

Second, this conflict is fundamentally different from the war between Ukraine and Russia. Because it is the most complex ethno-religious conflict in the world today, not a war between an empire and a nation-state trying to break free from its influence. This is worth remembering.

The Jewish people have the right to a state, without question. Hamas is a terrorist organization, no question about it. But Israelis are wider than Netanyahu, and Palestinians are wider than Hamas. In a complex ethno-religious conflict, a solution is always possible only through either dialogue or forcing both sides to make concessions and compromise. Attempts to resolve it by genocide in one direction or another under the guise of "just retribution" usually do not end well. For example, with an arrest warrant from the ICC.

It was clear that this would happen after South Africa filed a case against Israel. This filing, by the way, also teaches us to be careful in our search for partners. For South Africa, which, for all its criticisms of the current regime, remembers all too well Israel's cooperation with the apartheid dictatorship. Supporting a regime with racial segregation, even unofficially, is not a good idea.

The United States, as Israel's main partner, will not recognize this position, it is obvious. It will even condemn it. Especially since the United States, like Israel, Ukraine, and Russia, has not ratified the Rome Statute, on the basis of which the ICC operates. But the U.S. leadership has also called on Netanyahu to show restraint and not storm Rafah. The city with 1.4 million civilians, +1.1 million of the pre-war population. It called for and eventually blocked the supply of offensive weapons. Including the bombs that Israel used to attack civilian targets in Gaza.

Netanyahu's sympathizers are saddened by this turn of events. But this is life. Sometimes you have to think about more than just staying in power. He could learn something from the example of his old friend, also a defendant in the ICC case.

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About the author. Yuriy Bohdanov, publicist, specialist in strategic communications in business, public administration and politics

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.