Michelle Lesh would like us to simply banish our doubts about the integrity of the ICC’s decision. But there is plenty of room for doubt about the integrity and motives of the ICC, and plenty to be concerned about its impact on Jews everywhere.
The authority of the ICC is not impeccable – forty-one nations have not signed or acceded to the statute and twenty- nine have not ratified. The USA, the world’s most significant democracy, has not ratified. None of the countries in Israel’s neighbourhood in the Middle East are signatories or have ratified. France has just declined to abide by the warrant.
In a democracy, the government and its senior elected officials are understood to express the will of the people. Israel is ranked equal with the US as one of the world’s most democratic societies. So, when the Jewish State’s senior elected officials are accused of war crimes, then Israel’s people, and Jews more broadly, become implicated in that accusation in the court of global public opinion.
The demonstrations against the judicial reform before the war are not evidence that Israel is a fragile democracy. On the contrary, they revealed that despite the relentless public disruption by those demonstrations by an activist minority, the civil society and democratic government continued to function. Indeed, the country united in the face of war, and its civil society has never been stronger.
In the midst of a war for its existence being waged on seven fronts, Israel is expected to conduct an inquiry into October 7 and the events that followed in Gaza. Ms Lesh thinks this is a reasonable demand. The ICC knows it is unreasonable and undoable, but it provides them with pretext for their warrant.
Most naïve of Dr. Lesh is the claim that these warrants won’t embolden Iran, its terror proxies and their allies and antisemitic fellow travellers around the world such as we have seen here on our streets. Of course, it boosts their long held murderous conviction that the Jewish state must be eliminated. It’s a propagandas coup.
Comments12
Hilary30 November at 12:56 am
I doubt Michelle Lech would be interested to read Melanie Phillips’ recent article on this very topic. However others may wish to read her analysis of the ICC’s judgements, which holds them accountable in ways this article fails to do.
Phillips also raises serious questions about the validity of the UN and includes many examples of its absence of impartiality.
David Mayes28 November at 08:17 pm
For a far more learned and lucid critique of the ICC than I could ever provide please read Henry Ergas’ article in the Oz today “Flawed ICC now master of vigilante justice”.
David Mayes28 November at 09:42 am
Michelle Lesh would like us to simply banish our doubts about the integrity of the ICC’s decision. But there is plenty of room for doubt about the integrity and motives of the ICC, and plenty to be concerned about its impact on Jews everywhere.
The authority of the ICC is not impeccable – forty-one nations have not signed or acceded to the statute and twenty- nine have not ratified. The USA, the world’s most significant democracy, has not ratified. None of the countries in Israel’s neighbourhood in the Middle East are signatories or have ratified. France has just declined to abide by the warrant.
In a democracy, the government and its senior elected officials are understood to express the will of the people. Israel is ranked equal with the US as one of the world’s most democratic societies. So, when the Jewish State’s senior elected officials are accused of war crimes, then Israel’s people, and Jews more broadly, become implicated in that accusation in the court of global public opinion.
The demonstrations against the judicial reform before the war are not evidence that Israel is a fragile democracy. On the contrary, they revealed that despite the relentless public disruption by those demonstrations by an activist minority, the civil society and democratic government continued to function. Indeed, the country united in the face of war, and its civil society has never been stronger.
In the midst of a war for its existence being waged on seven fronts, Israel is expected to conduct an inquiry into October 7 and the events that followed in Gaza. Ms Lesh thinks this is a reasonable demand. The ICC knows it is unreasonable and undoable, but it provides them with pretext for their warrant.
Most naïve of Dr. Lesh is the claim that these warrants won’t embolden Iran, its terror proxies and their allies and antisemitic fellow travellers around the world such as we have seen here on our streets. Of course, it boosts their long held murderous conviction that the Jewish state must be eliminated. It’s a propaganda coup.