Attorney Dershowitz plans to defend Israel in court and public opinion – Israel News

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US defense attorney and former Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz is assembling a team to defend Israeli leaders in The Hague, he announced on Sunday The Wall Street Journal op-ed.

Dershowitz noted that the case would be heard in the court of public opinion as well as in The Hague.

“For that reason, I am assembling a team of world-class lawyers from around the world to help defend Israeli leaders against the false accusations,” Dershowitz wrote.

Last Thursday, the International Criminal Court issued international arrest warrants for war crimes allegedly committed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Various countries, such as the Netherlands, France and Ireland, have announced that they would uphold the ICC decision and arrest Netanyanhy and Gallant if they chose to land in those countries.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant during a press conference at the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 28, 2023. (Credit: ABIR SULTAN POOL/Pool via REUTERS)

But the US rejected the ICC decision.

“The United States fundamentally rejects the court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials. We remain deeply troubled by the prosecutor’s haste to seek warrants and the troubling procedural errors that led to this decision,” a government spokesman said.

In it WSJ In the op-ed, Dershowitz added that several prominent attorneys have already pledged to join the legal battle, including several former U.S. attorneys and a former FBI director.

No Jurisdiction Against Israell

“We would argue that the ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel, not only because it is not a member, but also because the treaty that established that court precludes it from hearing cases against any country with a valid legal system that is willing and able to investigate the alleged crimes,” he wrote.

“We will also demonstrate that Israel’s actions in Gaza do not violate any international law or the laws of war over which the ICC has jurisdiction.”

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Germany, which supplies 30% of Israel’s military equipment, criticized the petition for arrest warrants, saying the court had no jurisdiction as Israel has not signed the Rome Statute. Nevertheless, Germany has previously made it clear that it will respect the ICC’s decisions.

Dershowitz continued: “In issuing the arrest warrants … the court seeks to equate the terrorism of Hamas, which murdered, raped and kidnapped approximately 1,450 Israelis, mostly civilians, with Israel’s self-defense efforts to prevent a promised repeat of Oct. 7.”

Netanyahu responded publicly on Thursday evening, condemning the decision that ruled for his arrest. “This is a moral bankruptcy that undermines the natural right of democracies to defend themselves against murderous terrorism,” he said.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog similarly noted that the decision reflects the choice to side with “terror and evil over democracy and freedom” and that it turned the legal system into a human shield for Hamas’ crimes against humanity.

Dershowitz concluded, “Our group of lawyers hopes to bring justice to Israel and its leaders, as well as the international law that is being dishonored and destroyed by the ICC. We welcome others to join this effort.”