Sending Netanyahu off to the ICC

may sound like a good thing to many people but is it really?

 I have lost what little faith I ever had in the International Criminal Court. I was never sure it was a really good idea. The principle sounds fine but trying to implement it is something entirely different. Yes it took on someone like Milosevic but how much good did it really do? It isn't going to take on Putin or Kim or Hun Sen or Maduro...all of them at least equally deserving of a trip to the Hague.

The ICC is really a toothless tiger I suppose.

When we get news out of Gaza we need to remember that the news sources there are controlled by Hamas. Hamas wants everyone to believe the worst possible scenario. It is in their interests for this to happen. They want us to believe that the casualty numbers are enormous and that Israeli actions alone are responsible for this. They want us to believe it is Israel which is refusing to accept ceasefire arrangements. They want us to believe it Israel's fault that rockets land on buildings filled with women and children. Hamas also wants us to believe that Israel alone is responsible for the dire situation with regard to food and water and medication...and just about everything else.  

The reality of course is rather different. Hamas does not want peace. Its stated goal is the elimination of the state of Israel. The endless "ceasefire " negotiations fail not so much because of Israel's actions but because Hamas cannot afford to have a ceasefire. They cannot afford to be seen to give in at all. Their leaders simply do not care how many women and children lose their lives because of hunger and disease. They deliberately prevent people from moving away from danger zones even when the Israelis have delivered warnings. Exaggeration is another weapon of war for them, gross exaggeration.

Getting aid into the territory is difficult and UNRWA is not a cosy and lily white aid organisation which has the best interests of the people of Gaza at heart.  It is much more complex than that. It would be simplistic to say Hamas controls UNRWA but its influence is very, very strong. 

So, how culpable is Netanyahu? How culpable is Gallant? Perhaps an appearance at the Hague would answer that but I rather doubt it.  It will be too one-sided.  If we look at the countries which do not belong to the ICC we can see why. Countries like Russia and Iran may have signed the treaty but they have not ratified it - and they won't. It would open them up to too much prosecution. Countries like Pakistan and Turkey have not even signed the treaty. To do so would open up the possibility of prosecution of their leaders.

Putting out arrest warrants for two Israelis is easy enough to do but it will not achieve anything of value.