Shurat HaDin Fighting for Justice Against ICC
Israel’s civil rights law organization Shurat HaDin, based in Tel Aviv, Israel, is one of the leaders in fighting terrorism in the courtroom. The organization is dedicated to safeguarding Jewish rights worldwide. The President of Shurat HaDin, Nitsana Darshan Leitner, spoke out about Palestinian Authorities’ (PA) efforts to threaten Israel through the support of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In 2015, the former ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda initiated an investigation against Israel based on the allegations raised by the Palestinian Authorities (PA) regarding Israeli war crimes. However, the formal investigation against Israel has been initiated by the ICC in March 2021.
Nitsana Darshan Leitner points out that ICC is lenient towards pursuing an investigation against China despite ample evidence of China’s alleged crimes. The ICC discharged China from criminal liability by stating that as it is not a signatory of the Rome Statute, so, they don’t have the jurisdiction to carry out an investigation. Darshan-Leitner argued that since Israel is also not a signatory of the Rome Statute either, the ICC does not have jurisdiction to investigate Israel.
Darshan-Leitner further argued that the court should only investigate the alleged war crimes investigation if there is no other judicial system in place within the country to carry out the investigation. However, the ICC rejected the appeal by Israel to carry out an internal investigation of alleged war crimes and continues to aggressively pursue Israel. As per Darshan-Leitner, ICC has even used many underhanded tactics to ensure the criteria for a legal investigation against Israel can be met.
Darshan-Leitner is well aware of the PA and the ICC’s long-standing history of bias against Israel. To defend Israel against such bias, Shurat HaDin is challenging the ICC investigation on jurisdictional grounds. Shurat HaDin has also been actively engaged in filing complaints with the ICC about Palestinian efforts of inciting violence, terror attacks, and crimes against humanity against the Israelis. Nitsana Darshan Leitner is determined to fight the ICC’s investigation as it ultimately threatens the citizens of Israel.
