In an interview with the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations website, Mehdi Zakerian, referring to the International Criminal Court’s ruling on the arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister, and Yoav Gallant, former Minister of Defense of the Israeli regime, stated: Legally, this is a genuine and objective arrest warrant; as well as whether this warrant is executed or not, an accusation has been made against these officials and the prosecutor has applied their arrest warrant through the Court.

He continued: “Politically, this verdict is also a disgrace and shame for the United States and the Israeli regime. In the operations that the Israeli regime has repeatedly carried out for more than a year, most of them have encroached upon international humanitarian law while violating the resolutions proposed in the Security Council for a ceasefire and assistance to the people of Gaza and Palestine and health and medical centers, which must be held accountable for these actions.”

This expert on international law issues clarified: “In the meantime, the United States and other countries that have supported the actions of the Israeli regime during this period or have provided financial and military support to the  regime in the killings and genocides are also accused, and this verdict has now become bad for the supporters of this regime.”

Zakerian considered the International Criminal Court verdict a hopeful opening for human rights advocates and said: “This verdict led to the rejection of the accusations against the Court that the Court’s rulings only include people of African descent and only include them.” The court had previously issued arrest warrants for officials, including Omar al-Bashir and Saif al-Islam. We even saw some time ago that the court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for Russia’s military actions and attacks on Ukraine. Now, in addition to Netanyahu and Gallant, it has also issued an arrest warrant for Mohammed al-Dhaif, although Mohammed al-Dhaif is said to have been martyred. However, by issuing this warrant, the court acquitted itself of charges, including discrimination and favoritism towards a group of countries.

He continued: “Issuing an arrest warrant for Putin, whose country has the veto power in the Security Council and is one of the world’s greatest military and political powers, and also for Netanyahu, who enjoys the unquestioned support of the United States, shows that the issue of human rights violations is important to the international community and the ICC, and those who support human rights violations by a country will also be prosecuted.”

This international law expert considered the International Criminal Court’s ruling a historical and legal revolution, adding: “Some may have argued in the past that the Court is a political institution under the influence of major Western powers and has no problem with Western norms and will never issue a ruling for them, but the Court has shown with this ruling that it is impartial and this is a great development.” Zakerian emphasized: “This ruling shows the seriousness of the Court in not discriminating in observing humanitarian law, and in this regard, it is an extremely positive step.”

Regarding the implementation of this ruling by countries, he pointed to the support of many countries, including Europe, for this ruling and said: “We have witnessed that countries including Norway, Ireland, Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and … have announced that they will adhere to their obligations regarding the Rome Statute and related international laws.” In addition, the  European Union’s foreign policy chief has also welcomed this ruling.

This expert on international law and human rights noted: “If two-thirds of the 124 member states of the International Criminal Court support this ruling, it would be enough. This ruling is intended to exert political and international pressure on the Israeli regime’s officials, especially Benjamin Netanyahu, to change their policies in the Gaza war.”