Are Threats To Arrest Israelis Abroad a Political Stunt or a Real Danger?
Ambassador Alan Baker, director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center, tells TML: ‘You have to prove that this person intended and carried out the actual crime—when, where, and how’
Israelis are facing the threat of arrests abroad as the repercussions of the lengthy war in Gaza continue, despite the ceasefire.
Turkey issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and 36 other senior officials on charges of genocide. The warrants, issued on Friday, weren’t the first to target top Israeli officials. Israeli soldiers, both reservists and active duty, have also been targeted by human rights organizations during their travels abroad.
The multifront war was fought not only on battlefields throughout the Middle East, but also in courtrooms worldwide. Israel is facing genocide accusations at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague—allegations brought forward by South Africa and later joined by other countries, such as Turkey. A year ago, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued warrants against Netanyahu and the then-defense minister, Yoav Gallant. The court also issued a warrant against a Hamas leader whom Israel later assassinated.
“These warrants obligate every country that is party to the Rome Statute—and there are a lot of countries—to arrest them and extradite them to The Hague to stand trial at the ICC,” Yuval Kaplinsky, former director of the Department of International Affairs at the Ministry of Justice, told The Media Line. “Netanyahu has stopped traveling as freely as he did before.”
Lawfare is also targeting individual Israelis. Soldiers who traveled to Europe and South America have been accused of committing war crimes in Gaza, marking the growing application of the principle of universal jurisdiction to hold foreign military members accountable abroad.
Universal jurisdiction is a legal principle that allows a state to prosecute individuals for certain crimes, regardless of where the crime was committed, the nationality of the alleged perpetrator, or that of the victims. It is based on the idea that certain crimes are so shocking to the core of humanity—such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity—that they are of concern to the international community as a whole.
As a result, any country with laws permitting universal jurisdiction can pursue a case, even without a direct link to the alleged crime. In one case, Israelis were briefly questioned by local police and then released. A former Israeli soldier on leave in Brazil, in another case, left the country after a Brazilian federal court opened a war crimes investigation into his conduct during his service in Gaza.
The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), a Belgium-based legal advocacy nonprofit organization that pursues legal action against Israeli soldiers, is behind many of the attempts. Its website details scores of complaints filed against Israelis worldwide, not only for alleged crimes committed in the latest Gaza war, but going back years.
“The HRF warrants are mostly political, because to conduct a prosecution one must have solid evidence, and apart from political claims and perhaps material supplied from Hamas, I cannot see any of these warrants being backed up by solid evidence of actual war crimes,” Ambassador Alan Baker, director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center and former legal adviser and deputy director-general of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The Media Line. “They are doing so mostly for political purposes without real intention of having it brought to court.”
Israel has denied the genocide and war crimes claims, dismissing the attempts to persecute individuals.
This is harassment which has no legal substance. No country with a proper judiciary and law enforcement will begin an investigation based on a social media post.
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“This is harassment which has no legal substance,” said Kaplinsky. “No country with a proper judiciary and law enforcement will begin an investigation based on a social media post.”
The National Security Council has warned Israelis against posting details about their military service on social media.
“Unfortunately, Israeli authorities have contributed by adding to the panic, thus giving HRF a double victory—they have succeeded in filing a complaint and cutting short someone’s vacation,” he added.
“These warrants have no basis, and if they ever became actual with people actually arrested, they would have a lot of problems trying to prove the accusations and withstanding the test of evidence,” said Baker.
Unfortunately, Israeli authorities have contributed by adding to the panic, thus giving HRF a double victory—they have succeeded in filing a complaint and cutting short someone’s vacation
According to Baker, social media posts do not constitute solid evidence.
“Solid evidence of committing war crimes or crimes against humanity means that you have to prove that this person intended and carried out the actual crime—when, where, and how,” Baker continued. “The nature of the accusations is mostly political and can’t be really backed up.”
In response to Turkey’s latest move, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar labeled the warrants a “PR stunt.”
“Any legal process that respects itself has to be backed by solid evidence that needs to be provided to the court. This whole thing is a PR exercise to continue hostility toward Israel,” Baker added.
Throughout the war, Israel faced mounting criticism regarding its conduct. The backlash is being felt on all ranks—from soldiers who completed mandatory service to senior officials, including Netanyahu, whose travels abroad have been impacted by the possibility of arrest.
In a recent development, New York City’s newly elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani, made an election pledge to arrest Netanyahu if he visits the city, citing the outstanding ICC arrest warrant.
But the United States is not party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which means US law enforcement will not act upon it.
“It’s an empty election promise,” Kaplinsky explained. “It’s impossible that the New York police will arrest Mr. Netanyahu, given the fact that it is only a federal court that is authorized to issue an arrest warrant on ICC cases. This can only be done by a federal court upon request from the US Justice Department, which won’t be done since the US is not party to the Rome Statute.”
The latest announcement by Turkey appears to be another facet of the tense relationship between the two countries, which share diplomatic ties despite years of discord.
Those tensions mean Netanyahu and other senior officials have no plans to travel to Turkey in the near future.
“Turkey can do whatever it wants according to its law,” said Baker. “That doesn’t mean that anybody takes it seriously outside of Turkey. This is just noise.”
Any legal process that respects itself has to be backed by solid evidence that needs to be provided to the court. This whole thing is a PR exercise to continue hostility toward Israel
“Any legal process that respects itself has to be backed by solid evidence that needs to be provided to the court. This whole thing is a PR exercise to continue hostility toward Israel,” Baker concluded.
Subject to constant international criticism, Israel is forced to contend with these attempts to corner it legally. Some of the efforts pose a more concrete threat than others.
