Joint Statement Against ICC Warrants For Arrest Against Israel

24 November 2024

We the undersigned categorically reject the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) issuing of warrants of arrest for the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the former Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant.

The ICC’s action against a liberal democracy defending its citizens against terrorism is morally reprehensible. Israel was attacked and invaded by a terrorist organisation in a pre-planned attack on 7 October 2023. This brutal attack resulted in the rape, torture and murder of over 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 251 men, women and children of all ages from an 8 month old to people in the 80s. Over 100 hostages still remain in captivity some 400 plus days later.

The accusation that Netanyahu and Gallant intentionally directed attacks against the civilian population of Gaza is entirely false. In contrast to Hamas, the IDF targets military infrastructure, but faces an enemy that hides in tunnels and uses its people as human shields. Experts agree that the steps that Israel has taken to prevent casualties is historic in comparison to all other wars. Israel takes measures that no other military has taken during war, such as calling and texting individuals to warn them of a forthcoming air strike and sharing maps with plans for military manoeuvres in certain areas. The estimated civilian to combatant casualty ratio at slightly over 1:1, is nine times lower than the UN published global average, 4 to 5 times lower than numbers produced by the US and its allies (such as in Iraq and Afghanistan), and lower than any urban warfare scenario that has ever been recorded in history. Yet Israel absurdly faces accusations of genocide.

The ICC’s accusation that Netanyahu and Gallant “intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity, from at least 8 October 2023 to 20 May 2024” is also untrue and turns the ICC into a laughing stock.

Israel facilitates the aid into Gaza. The responsibility for distribution inside Gaza falls to UN aid organisations and other NGOs. Israel places no limit on the amount of aid that can enter Gaza.

According to an independent academic study which analysed the food and caloric value of the food going into Gaza, over 3000 calories per person per day entered Gaza January- September 2024. This is considerably more than the 2100 calories a day, which is the recommended daily standard.

The arrest warrant by the ICC sets a dangerous precedent by rewarding terrorism and censuring a democratic state’s right to defend its citizens. It incentivises the war crimes of taking hostages and using civilians as human shields. We all want peace for Israelis and Palestinians, but the politicisation of international law in a biassed attack on the only democracy in the Middle East, merely serves to further undermine the legitimacy of the ICC.

We therefore call on the Government of New Zealand to categorically reject the move made by the ICC and to make a firm stance in standing alongside Israel, an ally who is fighting for the same rights we all hold dear in New Zealand, namely freedom and the right to live in security, without the fear or threat of attack.

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