Israeli Attorney-General: Independent High Court strengthens IDF's defense before International Criminal Court

"Those politicians trying to harm the High Court of Justice will also harm the IDF's ability to defend itself and its soldiers against war-crimes allegations in the International Criminal Court, Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit said on Monday.

Speaking at the Israel Bar Association Conference in Eilat, Mandelblit said that, 'harming the standing and authority of the High Court – aside from the significant problems this causes on the domestic plane' – also harms Israel's ability 'to defend itself from legal initiatives in foreign countries and international legal forums.'

He said that harming the High Court 'harms our ability to defend political decision-makers, IDF commanders and IDF soldiers. A state which cannot enable an independent and effective judicial review of its actions, exposes itself to international intervention.'

'The greatest shield we have in the international lawfare arena is' Israel's ability 'as a democratic state, which observes the rule of law, to probe the legality of its actions and, when needed, to carry out effective probes,' continued Mandelblit.

The attorney-general explained that the High Court and the prosecutorial apparatus would only be respected by the ICC and other foreign bodies that are probing Israel and the IDF soldiers for war-crimes allegations if they are viewed globally as independent.

Mandelblit specifically cited last week's High Court decision declaring the IDF's open fire rules for Palestinians during the Gaza border crisis as legal as proof of the power of the court to defend Israel from international war-crimes allegations.

His point was that if the High Court would not have been able to hold a debate and hand down a decision about the issue, it could not have issued this decision and the IDF's rules would have been more exposed to global legal issues.

Instead, Mandelblit said that the High Court decision will likely help hold back the ICC and other foreign legal bodies from going after Israelis for war crimes..."