Israel thinks it has ‘moral high ground’ says former adviser

We were joined by Israeli diplomat and journalist, Alon Pinkas – who has also served as an adviser to two former prime ministers, Ehud Barak and Shimon Peres – and asked him what he made of the arrest warrant against Mr Netanyahu and the former defence minister, Yoav Gallant.

Alon Pinkas: It was predictable, it was anticipated, it was expected. The Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan, requested the warrant from the court in May. So that’s six months ago. And it took time, but here we are. So on the one hand, it did not come as a surprise. On the other hand, you see by Israel’s vociferous reaction that this hit quite an exposed nerve. You know, you put into the blender of of Israeli responses – anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, and an international conspiracy, and a cabal, and terrorism and Iran. And you blend and everyone drinks out of the same concoction and everyone comes out with basically the same righteous indignation. On the other hand, I just listened very carefully to that very interesting interview you conducted with Geoffrey Robertson. He makes a very, very important point. You know, Mr Netanyahu cannot be tried in absentia. He knows that. He will not test this. But then again, he a) is a fugitive, b) as you said correctly, his world shrunk considerably.

Matt Frei: Does Israel itself, and I know that Netanyahu has been incredibly unpopular, you know, with lots of people for lots of other reasons. But the war itself has, as far as I can understand, been supported by the Israeli public. Does Israel itself now feel as a pariah because its democratically elected leader has been issued with this arrest warrant?

Alon Pinkas: That’s a complex question. Let me explain why, what’s complex with that. On the one hand, people disapprove of Netanyahu. They see him as responsible and believe he should be held accountable for the calamity of October 7th. Yes, they were pro the war. No, they do not truly realise and understand what Israel did in Gaza. Some do and don’t care. Some choose not to know and some just don’t know. You have to understand the Israeli mindset because there is a symbolic dimension to this and a practical dimension.

The practical, I think, was covered way better than I can possibly do by Geoffrey Robertson, in terms of the legality or the legal issues. But there’s a symbolism here. Here’s an Israel that believes it’s on a moral high ground, that believes it has the most moral military in the world, that believes it is defending itself. You have to understand, the military in Israel is not some professional army, it’s everyone’s, it’s the people’s. So people feel bad.

Matt Frei: But do you personally agree with the government in Tel Aviv, that it said this is an anti-Semitic act, this arrest warrant is anti-Semitic?

Alon Pinkas: No, I do not.

Matt Frei: I mean, that is clearly what they’re trying to do here.

Alon Pinkas: They’re doing two things. First of all, Mr Netanyahu suffers from a long-time Louis XIV syndrome – identifying the state with himself and himself with the state –  turns this into everyone’s problem. We are being attacked by anti-Semites. We are the victims of a global conspiracy centred in The Hague, blah, blah, etc, etc. The second thing is that the prime minister of my country is accused of war crimes. There’s no question in my mind that he will not stand trial.

Matt Frei: Just one final one, briefly. Do you think it’s possible, as Geoffrey Robertson has suggested, that actually maybe the Israelis themselves might arrest him and hand him over to the ICC?

Alon Pinkas: No, no.

Matt Frei: Is that never going to happen?

Alon Pinkas: No, no, no, for very practical reasons. If the prime minister of your country is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, as is the defence minister, it inevitably entails that about 200 other brigadier generals, major generals, lieutenant generals and even colonels will be accused of similar crimes. No, I don’t think that will happen.