Once you get beyond trade and maritime borders, you will find that much of international law is, pace Clausewitz, the continuation of policy by other means. The International Criminal Court (ICC) was continuing policy by other means when it issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant. The two stand accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes over Operation Swords of Iron, Jerusalem’s response to the Palestinian invasion of its territory and mass murder of its citizens on 7 October 2023. Israel has protested the Court’s actions, which were prompted by chief prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan, as a one-sided interference in the military actions of a sovereign democracy which is not a member of the tribunal and does not recognise its jurisdiction. (The Court is relying on its jurisdiction over Palestine, which is not a sovereign state and lacks defined international borders.)
Trump evidently sees in the targeting of Israel a trial run for the ICC to target the United States
Now Israel’s stance has received the backing of the United States.
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