The International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallad is "a wrong decision that must be completely rejected by every decent nation and people," he told the ICC on Friday. the Ambassador of Israel in Cyprus Oren Anolik.
According to the Israeli Ambassador, the decision to issue the arrest warrants in question "is a dark moment for the ICC, undermining the credibility of the ICC and its legitimacy as an institution of justice".
"Instead of supporting its mission, the Court has become a political tool. It is now used and serves the most extreme elements, those working to destabilize peace and security in the Middle East," he noted.
He added that there is no jurisdiction over the warrants in question because Israel is not a member of the ICC. "We view these warrants not only as a personal attack on the Prime Minister and the former Defense Minister, but as an attack on Israel's fundamental right to defend itself," he said.
Asked how he thinks this decision will affect any negotiations going forward on a ceasefire or peace process in the Middle East, Mr. Anolik said that the Israeli side is concerned that this decision will have a negative impact on any kind of negotiation or attempt to reach an agreement with Hamas, expressing the opinion that it will "give support to the terrorists, who will feel emboldened and then be even more less inclined to proceed with any kind of agreement.'
"We fear that this will have a negative impact on the negotiations, a negative impact on the possibility of the release of the hostages and unfortunately a negative impact on the situation in Gaza, because without finding a way to end this war, the humanitarian situation in Gaza is not improving," he said.
Asked if the ICC decision will cause problems for the Israeli Prime Minister personally, as some countries and organizations have demanded compliance with the ICC's warrants, which could mean his arrest if he visits certain countries, the Israeli diplomat said that the Mr. Netanyahu has made it very clear that this will not stop him from continuing to do his job for Israel's security and defense.
"I am sure that the Prime Minister will not find himself in a situation that constitutes a real threat of his arrest. Therefore, I believe that he will be able to continue to do what he needs to do. How will this eventually translate to the overseas visits part? We will have to wait and see exactly," he added.
Asked if the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs is taking legal action against this decision, Mr. Anolik said that although Israel does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC, as it is not a member of the court, the Israeli side has made some initial requests to the court, stressing that it does not have jurisdiction over Israel and that it should have warned before it began. research.
"The court dismissed these claims very quickly without looking at them thoroughly and I think one of the things that is being looked at right now is whether we will appeal that decision and ask the court to reconsider the issues of lack of jurisdiction and the lack of notice, because we believe they were not given due consideration in the original decision. This has not yet been decided in Israel, but it is one of the things that our experts are looking at," he noted.
The Israeli Ambassador also noted that "the ICC makes a false comparison between a democratic nation fighting against terrorists and the terrorists themselves, and we believe that this is morally wrong."
"Israel is a democratic country with a strong, independent judiciary. Therefore, we are fully capable of demonstrating that we can investigate any offense ourselves, should it be committed. There is the principle of complementarity in international law, which we think the court has completely ignored, so both in its moral and judicial aspect, its moral and legal aspect, we think it's a wrong decision that should completely rejected by every decent nation and people," he concluded.
Source: KYPE
