A Decade of Israel's Attack on ICC: Here's the Timeline

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The following is a summarized timeline of clashes between Israel and the International Criminal Court (ICC) from 2015 to the present day, amidst the ongoing Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip.

Israel is not a signatory of the ICC’s Rome Statute, and neither is its ally the United States, but an arrest warrant from the court could make life difficult for its leaders. In March 2021, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced the start of an investigation into Israel’s alleged war crimes in Palestine.

In response, Israel’s then-spy chief, Yossi Cohen, intensified the covert war on the ICC that Israel has been waging since Palestine joined in 2015. From surveillance operations to public condemnation, here is a recap of Israel’s attacks on the ICC:

January 7, 2015: Palestine was set to become a state party to the ICC, giving the court jurisdiction over its territory. The process was finalized on April 1, 2015.

January 16, 2015: ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda opened a preliminary examination into the “situation in Palestine”.

January 17, 2015: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Bensouda’s decision as “absurd”.

February 2015: Two unknown men showed up at Bensouda’s residence in The Hague and gave her cash and an Israeli phone, saying it was a gift from an unknown German woman. The ICC concluded this was likely Israel’s way of telling Bensouda it “knew where she lived”, according to a Guardian investigation published on May 28, 2024.

2017-2019: An Israeli delegation, led by prominent Israeli lawyer and diplomat Tal Becker, conducted secret meetings with the ICC, challenging Bensouda’s jurisdiction over Palestine regarding the investigation opened in 2015.

December 20, 2019: Bensouda announced that the preliminary examination of the situation in Palestine found a “reasonable basis” to conclude that Israel and Palestinian armed groups had both committed war crimes in the occupied territory and the case met all criteria under the Rome Statute for the opening of an investigation.

2019-2021: The director of Mossad at the time, Cohen, intensified efforts to persuade Bensouda against the investigation. Bensouda formally disclosed to a small group within the ICC that she had been “personally threatened”. Five sources familiar with Mossad’s activities told the Guardian that the spy agency routinely listened to phone calls between Bensouda and her staff and Palestinians. Israeli operatives also hacked into the emails of Palestinian groups in contact with the ICC. Mossad also obtained classified recording transcripts of Bensouda’s husband, a Gambian Moroccan businessman.

March 2020: An Israeli government delegation reportedly held discussions in Washington, DC with senior US officials about “a joint Israeli-American struggle” against the ICC.

June 2020: Senior US officials said they would impose sanctions on ICC officials, saying they had unspecified information regarding “financial corruption and malfeasance at the highest levels” at the prosecutor’s office of ICC.  

February 2021: Bensouda stepped down as ICC prosecutor and Karim Khan assumed the role.

March 3, 2021: Bensouda confirmed that the ICC had initiated an investigation into the “situation in Palestine”.

April 2, 2021: US President Joe Biden’s administration lifted sanctions on Bensouda imposed during predecessor Donald Trump’s presidential term. However, the US said it continued to “disagree strongly with the ICC’s actions” related to Palestine.

April 8, 2021: Netanyahu said Israel does not recognize the ICC’s authority to investigate possible war crimes in Palestine.

April 30, 2024: Netanyahu called on “leaders of the free world” to oppose possible arrest warrants by the ICC of Israeli officials.

May 20, 2024: The investigation launched in 2021 concluded with Karim Khan requesting arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant alongside three Hamas leaders: Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri and Ismail Haniyeh. In his statement, Khan said: “I insist that all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence the officials of this court must cease immediately.”

May 21, 2024: Netanyahu deemed the arrest warrant requests a “disgraceful attempt” to interfere in Israel’s war on Gaza.

May 29, 2024: Netanyahu said he was surprised and disappointed by Biden’s refusal to support sanctions against the ICC, in an interview for Sirius XM’s The Morgan Ortagus Show. Politico obtained the recordings of the interview.

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