Noted attorney Alan Dershowitz said Tuesday that the International Criminal Court (ICC) “destroyed itself” when it issued a warrant for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The ICC issued the warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of crimes against humanity stemming from Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack that killed more than 1,200 people carried out by the radical Islamic terrorist group Hamas. Dershowitz said that prosecutors at the ICC were using the warrant for Netanyahu to set a precedent to eventually target Americans.
“Let’s really understand what the International Criminal Court indictment against Israel does. It puts the United States right in the sights of the ICC,” Dershowitz said. “Everything that the international criminal court said about Israel and about Netanyahu could be said about the United States and numerous of its presidents, from President Bush to President Obama, to you name it.”
“Every single thing that Israel has been accused of, the United States has been accused of, not formally yet, but if a precedent would be established that Netanyahu can be arrested, if he goes to Canada, Canada, then next it’s gonna be President Trump getting arrested if he goes to Canada,” Dershowitz said. “The ICC is causing more problems and is creating a horrible, horrible precedent.”
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Dershowitz made these remarks on Piers Morgan’s show Tuesday. One supporter of the ICC warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant said they were a precedent for the ICC to target American military personnel and officials.
“There was a statute presented to Congress, that didn’t pass, I think, was called the invade the Hague statute, which would have compelled the United States to use military force to free any American soldier that was arrested,” Dershowitz said. “Well, we’re not going to do that. But we should impose sanctions on Canada and on Trudeau if Trudeau dares to arrest Netanyahu. He should be subject to sanctions. He should not be allowed to travel in the United States. The same thing is true of any other European leader.”
In an op-ed published Sunday evening on the Wall Street Journal’s website, Dershowitz named some of the attorneys on a “legal dream team” to defend Israel. The list includes former Attorneys General Michael Mukasey and William Barr, former FBI Director Luis Freeh, former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Fox News host Mark Levin, David Boies, Susan Estrich and Floyd Abrams.
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“The International Criminal Court doesn’t have jurisdiction over Israel and the United States,” Dershowitz said, “Remember. the United States refused to sign the treaty, the Rome Treaty, that established the International Criminal Court. Israel refused to sign the treaty. Where does an international court get the power, any power at all, over people who didn’t sign on to a treaty? It’s unthinkable.”
Dershowitz described the conditions in the ICC’s prison, comparing it to a hotel room, before he rendered his verdict on the entity.
“The International Criminal Court has destroyed itself,” Dershowitz said. “It’s committed suicide.”
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.