Israel’s Rejection of the ICC Makes Perfect Sense

Israel’s hostile reaction to Palestine joining the ICC is both absurd and completely logical—Israel stands to lose a great deal from any formal probe into its conduct and ongoing occupation.

by Simon Reynolds

On January 1, 2015, Palestine formally acceded to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). In its formal declaration of accession, Palestine accepted the Court’s jurisdiction for all acts committed on its territory by all actors from the period beginning June 13, 2014.

Though this temporal window - specified by Palestinian Authority (PA) President, Mahmoud Abbas - was narrower than many human rights organizations and some Palestinian officials would have liked, most human rights defenders believe Palestine’s membership in the ICC is a valuable and meaningful step toward the objective application of law in an environment where it has been rarely enjoyed.