Israeli leaders want a fake investigation by an Israeli court so that Israel can invoke complementarity and avoid ICC indictment

The channel revealed that Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yariv Levin asked the government's attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, to open a criminal investigation against senior officials in the state to prevent the issuance of international criminal arrest warrants.

The channel explained that the goal is to open an investigation and then close it with a report to the International Criminal Court on the results as an alternative to forming a national investigation committee.

The Israeli channel said that the attorney general rejected the proposal, arguing that there are no justifications and that she will not open a false investigation.

This development comes when news outlets have reported that the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, requested recently the issuance of urgent arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif.

Khan cited concerns about possible Israeli interference in ongoing investigations amid escalating violence and ongoing war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

In his filing to the court, Khan expressed frustration with the court’s delay in issuing arrest warrants, and urged swift action ahead of Netanyahu’s scheduled speech at the UN General Assembly later this month.

The principle of complementarity is a instrument adopted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to respond to critics who argued that the ICC will conflict with national court systems. The principle of complementarity stipulates that the ICC can only exercise jurisdiction when national legal systems are unwilling or unable to prosecute crimes within their jurisdiction, making the ICC's function complementary, not replacing, national criminal systems.