Lieberman–Dismantle ICC probe against Israel or else

Lieberman slams ‘scandalous decision,’ says Israel will not cooperate with court that ‘gives impetus to terror’; PA welcomes move

Ed note–putting aside the obvious, which is that the ICC is indeed a kangaroo court that does not serve the interest of metting out justice to evil-doers but rather as an enforcement arm of Jewish power politics, nevertheless there are a few things worth noting here–

1–What are Lieberman & co so afraid of? IF Israel is indeed the apple of god’s eye and he is overseeing the entire project, then they have nothing to fear, and particularly if no ‘war crimes’ were committed. Just as Yahweh smote the enemies of Judea in times past, including Egypt with the plagues and the slaughter of 75,000 Persians as recounted in the book of Esther, the Jewish state has NOTHING TO FEAR.

2–Lieberman’s statement, that “Israel will act in the international sphere to bring about the dismantling of this court which represents hypocrisy and gives impetus to terror” needs to be understood in its proper context, and particularly following the ‘Charlie Hebdo’ incident–this is gangsterese for ‘we are going to use our people scattered around Europe in similar fashion until you close down the probe’.

SO, we here at TUT are going to go out on a limb here in predicting that in the unlikely event the ICC does not drop the probe, we will see other ‘Charlies’ poppiing up with all the typical background scenery.

Times of Israel

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman panned the decision by International Criminal Court’s prosecutor on Friday to open an initial probe into alleged war crimes committed against Palestinians, including during last summer’s Gaza conflict, and called to dismantle the court.

Lieberman charged it was a “scandalous decision whose only goal is to try and harm Israel’s right to defend itself against terror.”

He said the decision was “solely motivated by political anti-Israel considerations,” and that Israel would not tolerate it, adding that he would recommend against cooperating with the probe.

“Israel will act in the international sphere to bring about the dismantling of this court which represents hypocrisy and gives impetus to terror,” Lieberman continued in a statement released to the press.

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki welcomed the move.

“Everything is going according to plan, no state and nobody can now stop this action we requested,” he told AFP. “In the end, a full investigation will follow the preliminary one.”

A senior Palestinian source told Ynet the Palestinians were satisfied with the decision, calling it “a positive step in attaining justice and protection for the Palestinian people.”

“We hope that Israel will now understand that international law must be respected,” the source said.

Earlier Friday, the ICC prosecutor said an initial probe was being launched.

“Today the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Fatou Bensouda opened a preliminary examination into the situation in Palestine,” her office said in a statement, adding it may lead to a full-blown investigation.

Her decision comes after the Palestinians formally joined the ICC earlier this month allowing it to lodge war crimes and crimes against humanity complaints against Israel as of April 2014.

At the same time, the Palestinians also recognized the ICC’s jurisdiction retroactively, to cover the period during last summer’s war in Gaza that killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians and 72 Israelis.

“A preliminary examination is not an investigation but a process of examining the information available in order to reach a fully informed determination on whether there is a reasonable basis to proceed with a (full) investigation,” Bensouda said.

Depending on her findings, Bensouda will decide at a later stage whether to launch or quash the investigation, based on the initial probe.

Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on July 8 to stop Hamas and other groups’ indiscriminate rocket fire on Israeli cities and to destroy the terror tunnels that infiltrate into Israeli territory.

During the operation, Hamas rejected a number of ceasefire proposals and violated a number of those that were agreed to.

Israel lost 66 soldiers and six civilians, and a Thai agricultural worker, in the month-long conflict. while the Palestinian death toll surpassed 2,100, according to Hamas officials in Gaza. Israel said half of the Gaza dead were gunmen and blamed Hamas for all civilian deaths because it operated against Israel from residential areas, placing Gazans in harm’s way.

The Palestinians have accused Jerusalem of intentionally targeting civilian centers.

The IDF is currently investigating a number of incidents regarding the army’s conduct during the 50-day conflict.

The Palestinian Authority pushed through with the war crime charges after a failed attempt to secure a UN bid urging a complete Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and East Jerusalem by the end of 2017.

The move is also seen as part of a shift in strategy to internationalize its campaign for statehood and move away from the stalled US-led peace process.

Both Israel and the US have condemned the plan, with Washington calling it “counterproductive”.