JPC Senior Director Shoshana Bryen was invited by sister organization The RJC to host its program on April 8 with Eugene Kontorovich.
Summary: The International Criminal Court (ICC), established in 1998, was intended to prosecute the worst violations of human rights when national governments fail to act. Like many other international institutions, the ICC was created based on the highest ideals, says Eugene Kontorovich, a professor at George Mason University Law School. But ICC officials have come to realize that going after Israelis is easier than making a difference for global justice, he told a Republican Jewish Coalition webinar on Tuesday.
Last year, the ICC indicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on war-crimes charges in connection with Israel’s prosecution of the war against Hamas after October 7. And, in an effort to purportedly show “balance,” the court indicted three senior Hamas terrorists – Ismail Haniyeh, Muhammad Diff and Yahya Sinwar. All three are deceased.
In more than two decades of existence, the ICC, with an annual budget of more than $200 million, has prosecuted only six people. Numerous high-profile cases have collapsed, and dictators including Vladimir Putin of Russia have just ignored ICC indictments.
Efforts to impose sanctions against the ICC have been blocked by Democrats led by former Senate Majority Leader and current Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Kontorovich was sharply critical of the Egyptian government’s refusal to open its border to Palestinians seeking to flee Gaza. He said Cairo is violating a legal obligation to open the border to refugees. He also discussed the legal concept of Uti Possidetis Juris and its application to the borders of Israel.
