Afrasianet - Dr. Zakaria Shaheen - After the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) asked for arrest warrants against Zionist officials, 12 US senators signed a threatening letter to him in light of the possibility of arrest warrants for Israeli commanders and officers in the Defense Ministry.
The letter to Khan, which Florida Senator Rick Scott posted on his previously verified X page, read: "We are writing to you regarding reports that the International Criminal Court may consider issuing international arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials. We consider such steps illegal and believe they lack legal basis and, if passed, would result in harsh penalties against you and your organization."
"The ICC is trying to punish Israel for taking legitimate steps in self-defense against Iran-backed aggressors. In fact, as you put it, you witnessed "scenes of excessive brutality" by Hamas in Israel after the October 7 attacks. These arrest warrants would place the ICJ allied with the largest state sponsor of terrorism and its proxies. Clearly, there is no moral equanimity between Hamas terrorism and Israel's justified response," they said.
The lawmakers who signed this letter pointed out that issuing arrest warrants against Israeli leaders "would not only be unjustified, but would expose the hypocrisy of the institution (the court) and its double standards," pointing out that the court "did not issue any arrest warrants against Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Syrian officials, Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, or any other Hamas leader," nor against Chinese President Xi Jinping or Chinese officials. noted that the United States and Israel are not members of the court and therefore its rulings do not apply to them.
The senators warned that the issuance of a possible arrest warrant against Israeli leaders would not be interpreted as "a threat not only to the sovereignty of Israel but also to the sovereignty of the United States of America."
"The United States will not tolerate politicized attacks against its allies by the ICC," the U.S. lawmakers concluded, adding, "Target Israel and we will target you," and continued their threats in the letter by saying, "If you go ahead with the actions described in the reports, we will act to completely cease U.S. support for the court, to impose sanctions on your staff and collaborators, and we will deny you and your families entry to the United States. You have received the warning," they said.
The court's prosecutor published a statement on Friday opposing the threats against him and his team, rejecting public rhetoric of legislating against the court and its staff.
The ICC is a criminal court that examines individual criminal responsibility for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The court has previously issued arrest warrants for current Russian President Vladimir Putin, late Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi and former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
So, despite the global demands... What prevents the ICC from prosecuting Israel?
International figures and organizations have called for Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be tried at the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and war crimes against the residents of the Gaza Strip.
On November 17, the International Criminal Court announced that five of its member states had submitted a request to "investigate the Israeli attacks on Gaza."
This is not the first time that the court has received requests to investigate crimes committed by Israel in recent years, especially after the State of Palestine joined the International Criminal Court in 2015, which means that crimes committed in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem have come under the court's jurisdiction.
But the irony is that despite all the information, files and cases before the International Criminal Court against Israel's crimes committed during its recent wars on the Gaza Strip, the court did not condemn Israel, and did not even issue any arrest warrant against any Israeli official, including Netanyahu.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who commands the world's second-largest military force, after 39 member states of the court requested an investigation into crimes committed inside Ukraine.
This duality has led many observers to wonder why Israel escapes impunity every time, and does not issue international arrest warrants against its leaders to try them on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, which are committed in full view of the world, documented by audio, video and witnesses, and sometimes by the confession of the perpetrators, and sometimes by their pride in their crimes.
The most important question is: Will the international community be able to challenge the United States and its European allies, and pressure the International Criminal Court to refer Netanyahu and his army commanders to international prosecution as soon as possible, to stop their massacres in Gaza after the number of martyrs exceeded 42,000 , three-quarters of whom were children and women?
Does the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Netherlands, have independence from the pressure of Western countries that dominate it, especially in terms of funding, to enable it to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials involved in free crimes in Gaza?
Perhaps the most important obstacle to opening an investigation into crimes committed in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem is Israel's failure to join the International Criminal Court, its failure to recognize its authority, its failure to recognize the Palestinian state, its refusal to cooperate with its criminal investigators or grant them entry visas, allow them freedom of movement and access to the places of alleged crimes, and talk to victims and witnesses.
Israel and the United States were among only seven countries that voted in the General Assembly against the establishment of the ICC in 1998, and although they signed the ICC law without ratifying it, they withdrew it in 2002.
Not only did Tel Aviv not cooperate with the ICC, but also brandished the "anti-Semitism" card in its face as usual in dealing with any criticism of its practices.
Israel has incited several member states to stop or reduce funding for the ICC, led by Germany and Japan, and it is uncertain how much these countries will respond to Israeli pressure, but the court has not issued any arrest warrant for any Israeli leaders accused of committing any of the crimes under jurisdiction over the past three years.
Former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda justified the slow issuance of indictments in a report that "the Israeli judicial system already provides for the punishment of those accused of war crimes, meaning that the ICC may not have jurisdiction over alleged Israeli violations."
However, Israeli courts have not acted on this matter. Countries such as Sudan are not members of the court, yet an arrest warrant has been issued for its former president, Omar al-Bashir.
Legal loopholes and political, financial and procedural pressures have blocked any arrest warrant against Israeli leaders accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and crimes of aggression.
All of this has prompted the international community to move on more than one front to prosecute Israel's leaders.
One such front is the filing of a request by South Africa, Bolivia, Bangladesh, Comoros, Djibouti, and other ICC member states, to investigate Israeli attacks on Gaza, the court said in a November 17 statement.
Most Latin American countries and half of the African countries, in addition to most European countries, are members of the International Criminal Court, but most Arab, Islamic and Asian countries have not ratified the Court's law, especially in light of the selectivity with which the Court deals with various cases.
This is what Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pointed out when he said: "The international judiciary would have intervened immediately if a Muslim country had committed the war crimes committed by Israel."
But the matter did not stop at the official level on its importance, but an army of hundreds of lawyers and human rights organizations from around the world, led by the famous French lawyer Gilles Duver, and their numbers are increasing, and they filed a lawsuit with the International Criminal Prosecutor, on November 9, demanding "the opening of an investigation into the facts attributed to the occupation army in the Gaza Strip since the seventh of last October."
The Second Turkish Bar Association also announced its intention to file a judicial complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) over "Israeli crimes in Palestine."
These international and popular pressures would have accelerated the trial of Israel's leaders, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but this still collides with a hardline stance from the United States, especially its European allies who are members of the court, especially Germany, despite the position of Ireland and Belgium in support of the idea of holding Tel Aviv accountable.
The ICC prosecutor is a victim of the defamation policy.
Therefore, another policy had to be pursued to force Karim Khan to act in a way that satisfies the West and Israel as well.
The British newspaper "Daily Mail" reported that the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Karim Khan, is accused of behaving inappropriately against one of the employees.
"Her colleague informed the court management of this half a year ago. The employee did not file a formal complaint and refused to confirm or deny to her managers what was attributed to Khan."
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan revealed that he was threatened for requesting arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant.
In any case, the frantic attempts will not stop there, as the evidence confirms that the threats will continue as well, as the fabrication of new files to tarnish the image of the man is certainly in preparation, and it has become too early to say that Khan will be able to issue any warrant against Zionist officials.