Diplomatic declaration of war
What I would give to have been an attentive fly on the wall in the conference room where the Palestinian Authority leadership decided to join the International Criminal Court in The Hague. I especially would like to have heard the part when Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas and his advisers discussed the effect of such a move on Israel. They likely considered the Americans' request to delay joining the ICC until after Israel's March 17 elections, and when they decided to decline, they probably took into account the likely American counter-measure, be it from Congress or possibly from the White House.
Ultimately, the Palestinians decided to go ahead and approach the ICC. What is the implication of this decision? Does it mean that Abbas doesn't care how it will affect the Israeli elections? Or perhaps he thinks it will help one Israeli political camp defeat the other? Does he believe that by joining the ICC he will strengthen the Israeli political bloc that he wants in power?
The court's official announcement over the weekend -- that it plans to launch a preliminary examination into possible war crimes in Judea and Samaria and Gaza -- is tantamount to a declaration of war. The final objective may still be far off, but the obvious intention is to isolate Israel and delegitimize its existence and eventually deter Israel Defense Forces soldiers from fulfilling their duties by instilling fear that they may be arrested overseas.
The outcome is very clear: Many Israelis think that it wasn't only Abbas brought the peace talks to a halt -- they believe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also played a part in wrongfully ending negotiations. Even those (I among them) who criticize Netanyahu's decision to freeze the transfer of Palestinian tax revenues as a punitive measure for their diplomatic missteps support his efforts to prevent the Palestinians from imposing a unilateral solution on Israel.
As the French say, a la guerre comme a la guerre, Abbas does not want to engage in dialogue and is appealing directly to The Hague. There he seeks diplomatic sympathy (if any) in a long and arduous process. In any case, his actions will be met with a harsh, one-sided response from Jerusalem. His actions are weakening the argument that the Israeli government was wrong to freeze Palestinian funds, and strengthen the average Israeli's belief that there is no point talking with the Palestinians.
Who will this help in the upcoming Israeli election? Everyone knows the answer, be it to their satisfaction or dismay.
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו