American Jewish Committee Appalled by ICC’s Issuance of Arrest Warrants Against Israelis

American Jewish Committee (AJC), the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people, is appalled by the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. This reckless, irresponsible decision is a gross distortion of international law that harms the Court's credibility, completely undermines its core mandate, and emboldens enemies of democracy around the world.

Rather than acknowledging the reality that Israel's military actions in Gaza are solely focused on defeating the internationally recognized terror organization Hamas, securing the safe return of the 101 hostages still held by the terror group, and protecting Israelis from further attack, the Court embraced the false claims that Israel is acting with malicious intent toward Palestinians, restricting humanitarian aid as a tool of punishment, and deliberately attacking and harming civilians. Perversely, the Court even cited Israel's efforts to increase humanitarian aid entering Gaza in the spring of 2024 as evidence of ill intent, suggesting that prior restrictions had not been dictated by military necessity but intended to cause Palestinian civilians harm.

In an outrageous failure to exercise power responsibly, the Court also refused to address serious challenges to its authority to even consider this case.

The ICC's foundational purpose is to act only when the states with the primary responsibility to do so are unable or unwilling to exercise it. Yet Israel is a democracy with a robust and independent judiciary capable of actively considering the allegations. The State of Israel has repeatedly expressed its full commitment to investigate and address any alleged illegal acts committed by members of its military force. AJC has full confidence in Israel's independent judiciary.

Further, for years, numerous governments have consistently rejected the Court's claim of jurisdiction over Israelis and the Court has never conclusively ruled on this question. Countries including the United States, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Hungary raised objections to the Court's jurisdiction and on the principle of complementarity - that international justice mechanisms should defer to national justice systems whenever appropriate - in filings made as recently as this summer.

For the Court to decline to conclusively answer these serious questions and refuse to act on reasoned arguments and instead issue these warrants, including against a sitting Prime Minister, is an outrageous overreach.

This decision is a boon to Israel's enemies and the enemies of international law and justice. It castigates democratic Israel - which has consistently affirmed its commitment to abide by its international obligations while fighting terrorists - while rewarding regimes like Iran that fuel terrorism around the world and distort the law for their malign ends.

We call on all governments to immediately reject this erroneous decision and affirm that they will not enforce the warrants issued by the ICC in this case.

AJC is the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people. With headquarters in New York, 25 regional offices across the United States, 15 overseas posts, as well as partnerships with 38 Jewish community organizations worldwide, AJC's mission is to enhance the well-being of the Jewish people and Israel and to advance human rights and democratic values in the United States and around the world. For more, please visit www.ajc.org .