Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara condemned International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan today (Monday), one week after Khan announced that he is seeking arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The attorney general accused Khan of ignoring the strength and ability of Israel's legal system during an address at the annual Israel Bar Association conference in Eilat.
“The decision of the prosecutor ignores, among other things, the fact that the Israeli legal system has proved its independence in the past, its impartiality, and its commitment to the values of truth and justice,” Baharav-Miara said.
“We do not shy away from enforcing the law against any person, even the heads of the military and the state if there are well-founded suspicions of violations of the law. We examine and will examine thoroughly suspicions of illegal actions. We don’t need outside help to clarify suspected criminal activity.” she added.
Baharav-Miara noted that “the states that established the [ICC] saw it as a tool for dealing with situations where there is ‘no law and no judge.’ That is not our situation.”
She further accused Khan of disregarding "the basic legal idea on which the court was founded, the principle of complementarity," in his seeking warrants against Israeli leaders.
She also noted that Israel faces "unprecedented challenges" in facing an enemy such as Hamas which “abuses in a manipulative manner Israel’s commitment to [international] laws,” challenges that were likewise ignored by Khan.
"Equating the State of Israel’s political leadership to Hamas murderers is a moral failure," she said.
According to the attorney general, “It would have been more correct for the prosecutor to wait until the internal state procedures were completed before making a decision. It would have been right to give the State of Israel a fair opportunity in this regard.”
Baharav-Miara also criticized the case South Africa brought to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) attempting to accuse Israel of genocide, calling the case "outrageous,” "baseless," and a “cynical and illegitimate use of the court’s procedures.”
"Hamas is a genocidal organization that murders Israelis and Jews because of who they are. It is carrying out abominable war crimes at this very moment. Hamas is responsible for the suffering of Gaza’s residents, it does not take care of them. It has invested massive sums in building terrorist infrastructure and uses civilians as human shields,” she said.