Is the ICC Going After the Entire Israeli Government?

The International Criminal Court has submitted a request for a warrant for Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s arrest, Smotrich claimed Tuesday.

• The icc can only apply for warrants on behalf of member states of the Rome Statute. Smotrich claimed that the Palestinian Authority, which signed the Rome Statute as the “State of Palestine,” was behind the request.
• Israel is not a member of the icc. But the icc claims jurisdiction over individuals who commit alleged crimes on member states’ territory and in this case considers the West Bank member-state territory.

Why is this happening? As Israel’s finance minister, Smotrich is in charge of both Israel’s payments to the Palestinian Authority and financial sponsorship of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Smotrich, who is a settler himself, is an anti-Palestinian hard-liner on both issues.

It’s not just Smotrich being targeted. Israel’s Channel 12 News reported Monday that the icc is also considering secret arrest warrants against Defense Minister Israel Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

• The icc is also investigating Israel Defense Force Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and his predecessor Herzi Halevi, Channel 12 claimed.

In 2024, the icc indicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes as Israel fought Hamas terrorists in Gaza, a ludicrous charge.

• These two men cannot travel to any icc member state without risking arrest and deportation to the Hague to face trial.

The icc indicted those two men specifically because of wartime actions in Gaza. Politicians like Smotrich had minimal involvement in that war effort. It seems the icc is expanding its scope to target any member of the Israeli government who has anything to do with pushing back against Palestinians, never mind the Palestinian Authority’s own links to terrorism.

• By this rationale, since the Palestinian issue touches almost every aspect of Israeli society, the icc could go after the entire Israeli government if it wanted.

Institutions like the icc were formed to stop atrocities like the Holocaust from happening. The latest news shows how these courts have instead become instruments for evil actors to target those in the right.