Reports suggesting the International Criminal Court could potentially prosecute Russian President Vladimir Putin and his close advisers for crimes against humanity over the Ukraine invasion have led the Palestinian Authority to again try its luck and convince The Hague that Israel's crimes just as not serious.
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For Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, what is happening in Ukraine and Israel's response to acts of terror in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are one and the same.
This tactic is hardly new. Time and again, the PA tries to rein in Israel when it finds it has to launch a military operation against terrorist elements. All recent military campaigns in the Gaza Strip have seen UN officials and international legal bodies accuse Israel of using excessive force. but when asked to present examples, they explained that Israel had gone too far with razing buildings and targeted assassinations.
The Jewish state's need to generate deterrence has never been mentioned. For them, proportionality means that if a missile is fired at you, fire one missile back, as firing two missiles constitutes "excessive use of force."
The latest appeal to the ICC proves that it rumors of "great hostility" between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have been greatly exaggerated. It is hard not to get the impression that they are working together on the Israeli issue and are, in fact, well-coordinated: Hamas is provoking Israel into operating in Gaza and the West Bank, and the PA continues to ram Israel on the international stage and tries to harm it in any way possible.
Moreover, Abbas and his ministers are now trying to have the ICC reckon with Israel for its "past crimes" with the clear aim of having this anachronistic and one-sided institution curb Israel's operational leeway in the future.
Former Chief ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda left office having been unable to indict Israel – she had no evidence to support the Palestinians' false allegations and most likely thought twice about the issue.
On his first day on the job, her successor, Karim Khan, was approached by Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki with a demand that the ICC charge Israel with committing crimes against humanity.
Israel in the past warned the Palestinians that their appeals to The Hague under false pretense could undermine any positive development between Jerusalem and Ramallah. Abbas and his ilk have been told in no uncertain terms that attempts to discredit Israel in the international arena were a red line and that Israel will not hesitate to exact a price from the PA of it.
The leverage that Israel has over the PA is wide-ranging and effective, and it has been used in the past. It is time to use it again.
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