ALTHOUGH 124 countries, including South Africa, were signatories of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and obliged to enforce warrants issued by the ICC, political analysts believed the warrant arrest would have less impact on Israel leaders.

The doubts were cast following the ICC ruling to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence minister, and a Hamas military commander for alleged war crimes.

Netanyahu’s office has already ambushed the ICC: “Israel rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions levelled against it by the ICC.”

While the South African government and some organisations, including the Palestine Solidarity Alliance (PSA), welcomed the ruling. Some political analysts felt there would be no consequences as Israel appeared to be protected by some of the most powerful nations in the West.

“First, Israel has become a law unto itself. Israel is also encouraged in its disregard for international bodies such as the ICC by the support it receives from Western countries such as the UK and the US.

“Israel and the US, who are not members of the ICC, have already poured scorn on the decision.

“Not to be left behind, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said: “The decision to choose the side of terrorism and evil over democracy and freedom turned the international justice system itself into a human shield for Hamas’ crimes against humanity.

“The US attitude was captured by Senator Lindsey Graham (RSC), who said: ‘The court is a dangerous joke’,” Seepe said.

He added that South Africa, as a sponsor of the case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, had little chance to manoeuvre, arguing that the South African government would not take action. The government has failed to close the embassy despite Parliament's agreement.

South Africa seems to be asking the court to punish Israel for the widespread starvation brought about by the continuing egregious breaches of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide by the State of Israel and its ongoing manifest violations of the provisional measures indicated by the international court.

“It is doubtful that it would comply should such a reality arise. For all its seeming display of bravado, South Africa would not go that far to effect the arrest. Doing so would offend powerful Western countries that President Ramaphosa Ramaphosa has been trying to impress. In short, South Africa would have no backbone,” Seepe said.

Member of the PSA Hassen Logart stated that the ruling ended the rule of elites and confirmed that we all live equal lives before the law. “The ICC will have to show that it is not only a court that prosecutes or persecutes African dictators, bad guys, and those like Putin.

“It is a big day but a small step towards ensuring justice, but we must expect the Global North and the US to react more severely.”

Logart mentioned that the smears and underhand tactics of Israel and the US have not worked.

Meanwhile, the people in the Occupied Palestine Territories continue to be killed and resist without food and water for a life of dignity, survival, and liberty.

While many Western countries rejected the ruling, the court also decided “unanimously” to show fairness. It issued an arrest warrant for Hamas’s military commander Mohammed al-Masri, known as Mohammed Deif, “for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed” in Israel and Palestine from October 7, 2023.

This came as a result of ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, who had applied for arrest warrants against the Israeli officials and three Hamas leaders in May for alleged crimes committed during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza, which has been bracing the Israeli aggression.

The Israeli military war on the defenceless children and women in Palestine has received severe criticism from many South Africans.

In September, the Palestine movement in South Africa said that the campaign to expose the African Global Dialogue, which was a genocide-washing conference, was successful after the event was cancelled but called on the government to ensure that its position on Israel was not undermined.

“The UN General Assembly voted in favour for the first time on a resolution denouncing Israel as an apartheid state and declaring that all states must impose military, trade, academic, and other sanctions on apartheid Israel, exactly as was done to isolate the apartheid South African regime in solidarity with our liberation struggle,” read the statement.

The movement felt that those who claimed to be neutral in situations of injustice had chosen the side of the oppressor.

thabo.makwakwa@inl.co.za