Leftist Israeli writer Gideon Levy said that it is impossible not to feel a degree of satisfaction as he witnesses the beginning of the establishment of justice following the request of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, to issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials on charges of committing “war crimes.”

Levy wrote - in Haaretz newspaper - that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Galant are about to become wanted people around the world, and this is exciting.

Last Monday, the court's prosecutor announced that he had requested the issuance of arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant, and three leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), on charges related to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

A fateful question

Levy said that no one dares to deal with a “critical and fateful” question such as whether Israel has committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip or not.

He added that if war crimes of mass killing and starvation of the population had been committed, as suggested by Khan's proposal, which he describes as a courageous prosecutor, then there must be criminals responsible for them, which requires bringing them to justice.

Ironically, Israel participated in appointing Karim Khan to his position behind the scenes after being suspicious of his predecessor, according to Levy.

He claimed that there seemed to be no dispute that Hamas leaders had, in turn, committed war crimes that required them to be brought to justice.

But he believes that the equality of Hamas and Israel in the crime does not mean that there is moral or legal parity, and even if each party were accused separately, Israel would raise an uproar against the court.

Attack on the International Criminal Court

He pointed out that the only argument being circulated in Israel now is that the judge is a “scoundrel,” considering that the only proposed means to prevent the harsh ruling he issued is to harm the court for the purpose of convincing friendly countries not to support its rulings, and to impose sanctions on its judges.

He continued that this is the way every criminal thinks, and no country has the right to think in the same way, indicating that it is better for Israel to blame itself instead of blaming the entire world.

Levy described the Gaza Strip as being in a state of ruin, and that its residents were dead, wounded, orphans, hungry and destitute, even though the majority of them were innocent, stressing that it was clear that this was a war crime.

He concluded that the problem is deeper than blaming Netanyahu, the “main culprit,” or invoking “evasive” arguments, and that for 57 years Israel has maintained a regime based on injustice and evil.

He concluded that the world is waking up from its slumber, and has begun to move against this regime. He wondered: “Will the world also be able to awaken some Israelis from their heedlessness and skewed sense of the meaning of justice?”

Source: Haaretz+Aljazeera