Andrew Wallace I 25 May 2024 I The Spectator Australia

On multiple occasions this week, I’ve found myself wondering if I was living in some dystopian alternate reality.

I watched the UN Security Council mourn the death of Iran’s President – the Butcher of Tehran.

We saw cross-strait tensions boil as Taiwan inaugurated its new President.

And the International Criminal Court has announced that it is seeking arrest warrants for leaders in Israel and Hamas, sending shockwaves through the Israeli diaspora, the Jewish community, and Western liberal democracies across the world.

On Tuesday, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court applied for warrants to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister Gallant of Israel, and Yehya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas.

It comes only two weeks after 25 Australian national leaders submitted a joint letter to the Chief Prosecutor, demanding clarity and reaffirming Australia’s strong support for its enduring friend and partner in democracy, the State of Israel.

International law must be applied equally and without fear or favour. In making this decision, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has shown that he has no intention of doing so.

President Biden was spot on when he said, ‘There’s no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas.’ Just a quick look at our potentially accused shows this to be true.

Yehya Sinwar is the Hamas Chief in Gaza, called the Butcher of Khan Yunis for his leadership of Majd – the Hamas equivalent of Hitler’s SS.

Mohammed Deif is among the world’s most wanted terrorists, responsible for converting the al-Qassam Brigades from amateur terror cells into organised military units. He led some of the worst terror attacks in Israel’s history.

Ismail Haniyeh, the former Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, is a friend of dictators who once called Osama bin Laden an ‘Arab holy warrior’ and who called for the bombing of Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile, in Netanyahu and Gallant, you have two sons of Holocaust survivors, long-standing public servants, and acclaimed war heroes whose military service extends over decades. Both have made the effort to broker peace with Palestinians over decades.

Yet, the International Criminal Court has put them on the same pedestal.

There was no warrant sought for the President of Iran – the Butcher of Tehran – for whom justice came another way. After 35 years of brutal oppression and despite orchestrating the single biggest rocket and drone attack in human history, there remains no arrest warrant for Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini.

There’s no equivalency between Hamas and the State of Israel. There is between Hamas and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

This war would end today if Hamas released its hostages, dismantled its terror network, and ceased its militancy against the Israeli people.

Let’s not forget why we’re here.

On October 7, 2023, over 3,000 Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, murdering 1,200 men, women, and children, and kidnapped and imprisoned 250 civilian hostages – 139 of whom remain in captivity. Hamas terrorists employed rape and sexual violence as weapons of war tortured civilians and performed grossly indecent acts on women, men, and children.

Hamas terrorists and civilian looters destroyed, appropriated and pillaged property with wanton disregard. They intentionally directed attacks against civilians, bombarding undefended communities and targeting kibbutzim, hospitals, apartments, and police stations. We saw Palestinian militants celebrate the heinous crimes, with Hamas political leaders calling for an encore.

Perhaps most egregiously, we have watched time and again the Hamas regime utilise ‘the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations’ through their use of human shields and civic infrastructure, in breach of Article 8(2)(b)(xxiii) of the Rome Statute.

I have seen the footage. You can find some of it online. There’s irrefutable proof that Hamas perpetrated the very worst crimes against humanity.

Meanwhile, since October 7, Israel has conducted a targeted operation to dismantle the Hamas terror network, which is funded by Iran and backed by Hezbollah and Houthi terrorists. In addition to its fiercely independent judicial checks and balances, Israel set up an independent High-Level International Military Group which has assessed that the IDF have met and often exceeded their obligations under International Humanitarian Law. They have warned Palestinian civilians to evacuate before conducting operations, assisting in temporary relocation efforts.

Did Hamas warn the women they raped? The children they murdered? The students they kidnapped? No.

There’s no equivalency between Hamas and Israel.

This decision is wrong. It fails to acknowledge the fundamental difference between the Hamas terror group and the democratic State of Israel.

It all but criminalises national self-defence – a right protected under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

It shows terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like the Ayatollah that there are no consequences for their barbarity and brutality.

If Israel cannot defend itself, and dismantle the terror networks that threaten their very existence, then what hope has Taiwan? What hope has Australia? What hope has the global rules-based order?

This issue is existential for Israel and for every single one of us.

Australia cannot abide the antisemitism and anti-liberalism which has infected the international system.

It’s time for the Prime Minister to call this out for what it is: shameless politicisation of an international institution and a reckless endorsement of the worst kind of Islamic extremism.

Author: Andrew Wallace