Efforts to prosecute Israeli troops overseas for Gaza crimes a new front in ‘lawfare’: Columnist
A columnist for Israel’s Haaretz news outlet has described international efforts to track down and prosecute Israeli soldiers accused of war crimes in Gaza as a new phase in “lawfare” against Israel.
Columnist Amir Tibon said the development was part of a “global struggle” where groups were “trying to get police and prosecutors all over the world to interrogate Israelis”.
“It’s important to understand that this is part of a wider effort by pro-Palestinian groups all over the world, trying to hunt down – I think is the best word we can use, Israelis who participated in the war on Gaza,” Tibon said.
Tibon said Israel was attempting to use diplomacy to pressure countries where a war crimes investigation case may be opened to “close any kind of legal loopholes that allow for this”.
“Maybe to get local parliament to change the law to make it more difficult,” he said, adding that it would not likely work in countries with governments who had been critical of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Israeli soldiers’ sense of impunity ‘absolute’: Hind Rajab Foundation
Israeli officials are concerned about their soldiers being arrested after fighting in Gaza, with a soldier having fled Brazil to avoid being questioned over alleged war crimes he committed in Gaza and filmed for social media.
The Belgium-based Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) is the force behind this international effort for accountability.
Formed just five months ago, HRF has pulled together lawyers and activists from around the world to prepare cases, primarily based on social media content shared by Israeli soldiers themselves.
Israeli female soldiers pose for a selfie overlooking the rubble their army turned Gaza into, on the Gaza border, in southern Israel, February 19, 2024
Polish former ICC judge condemns government decision not to arrest Netanyahu
Previously, we reported the Polish government adopted a resolution promising that the highest representatives of Israel – including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – could attend an Auschwitz liberation anniversary event later this month without facing arrest.
Piotr Hofmanski, former International Criminal Court (ICC) president and a former judge for the court in The Hague, has slammed the decision, saying it will only hurt Poland’s international standing.
“I don’t know much about politics, but from a legal point of view, the matter is as clear as a needle. There is an arrest warrant for the Prime Minister of Israel on suspicion of committing war crimes and states are obliged to execute it,” Hofmanski told the Onet news outlet.
Hofmanski continued that the decision “calls into question the very purpose of the ICC’s existence if states refuse to fulfil its obligations”.
On Thursday, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda urged the government to ignore an ICC arrest warrant issued in November for Netanyahu’s arrest if he attends the ceremony marking 80 years since Russia’s Red Army liberated the Nazi death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Essay Pro