The conflicting reactions of the Twenty-Seven to the decision of the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ask the judges to arrest the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the leadership of Hamas once again highlight the deep division that Israel’s war in Gaza provokes in the EU. Countries such as Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary have charged against the ICC, while Germany criticizes what it considers to be the Israeli leader’s “false sense of equivalence” with Hamas, the fundamentalist organization that carried out the October 7 attacks that led to in the offensive of the Jewish State in the Strip. On the other hand, partners such as France, Spain and Belgium have strongly supported the “independence” of that institution against impunity “in all situations.”
The lack of unity and a strong voice in the Middle East conflict has raised accusations against the EU of maintaining double standards: one position on Russia’s war against Ukraine and another on Israel’s violations of international law in its offensive in Gaza, where deaths from Israeli attacks exceed 35,000. A difference, Mustafa Barghouti, of the Palestinian National Initiative, has criticized, which did not happen with the ICC order against the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, for charges such as the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has described as “outrageous” the arrest warrant issued by prosecutor Karim Khan against Netanyahu and his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant. The United States is not one of the 124 signatories of the Rome Statute that subscribe to the court, obliged to execute arrest warrants. Neither is Israel, but Palestine is.
The high representative for the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, has been clear. “The mandate of the ICC, as an independent international institution, is to prosecute the most serious crimes under international law. All States that have ratified the statutes of the ICC are obliged to execute the decisions,” Borrell said in a brief statement on social networks.
Although no Member State has said that it would breach the arrest warrant if The Hague decides to issue them following the request of the Prosecutor’s Office, there has been a big difference in how the decision has fallen. On the one hand, there is the bloc led by Spain, Belgium and Ireland, countries that have been demanding a stronger EU voice for some time in a conflict for which they demand an immediate ceasefire. These voices have been quick to express absolute respect for the TPI, its work and decisions.
Join Morning Express to follow all the news and read without limits.
Subscribe
In the other bloc, led by the countries that have most defended Israel’s action in response to the Hamas attack, despite the high cost in civilian lives in Gaza, criticism has focused above all on the decision of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office. of equating Hamas leaders with Israel when requesting international arrest warrants. The Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, has spoken along these lines. “Trying to present the Prime Minister of Israel and the leaders of a terrorist organization as equals and involving international institutions in this is unacceptable,” he said.
In defense of the court
Belgium has been one of the countries that has most firmly supported the Hague court. “The crimes committed in Gaza must be prosecuted at the highest level, regardless of who their perpetrators are” and the step taken by prosecutor Khan, requesting arrest warrants for senior Hamas and Israel officials, “is an important step in the investigation of the situation in Palestine,” Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib stressed in a statement. Belgium, she added, “will continue to support the essential work of international justice to ensure that those responsible for all crimes are held accountable.”
The Government of Spain, in a brief message on the social network [Tribunal] International Criminal Court and with its independence and impartiality. The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has demanded respect for the work of the Hague court: “Its crucial work must be carried out freely and without interference,” he stressed.
The Irish Foreign Minister, Michéal Martin, has spoken in a very similar way: “It is vital that we respect the independence and impartiality of the ICC,” he said in X, while condemning the “recent threats” to the court and members of its committee. equipment. “Their role in ending impunity is essential,” he stressed.
France has also been forceful in expressing its support for the “independence” of the ICC and “the fight against impunity in all situations.” In line with other countries, she recalled that it is still to be known whether the Hague court ends up issuing these orders. And he has pointed out, in a clear reference to Israel, that “France has been warning for many months about the importance of strict respect for international humanitarian law and, especially, about the unacceptable nature of the loss of civilian lives in the Gaza Strip, as well as of insufficient humanitarian access.”
The critical block
Countries that traditionally support Israel have been quick to criticize, above all, the fact that the ICC prosecutor puts Hamas and Israel on the same level. At the extreme, as usual, is the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, who has described as “absurd and shameful” the decision of the ICC prosecutor to ask to prosecute Netanyahu.
More restrained, but no less critical, the top representatives of Austria and the Czech Republic have spoken out. “We fully respect the independence of the ICC, but it is incomprehensible that the leader of the terrorist organization Hamas, whose declared goal is the extinction of the State of Israel, is mentioned at the same time as democratically elected representatives of it,” said the Austrian Chancellor. , Karl Nehammer. A comparison, agreed the Czech Petr Fiala, “terrible and completely unacceptable.”
In a measured tone, but making it clear that it does not consider Hamas’ crimes comparable with the alleged violations of the rights of Israeli officials, the German Foreign Ministry has also insisted on its “respect for the independence and processes” of the ICC, but has questioned the equation of Hamas with a “rule of law like Israel.”
Follow all the international information onFacebook andxor inour weekly newsletter.
.
.
_
