In a remarkable intervention, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants against violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Olmert, who led Israel between 2006 and 2009, told The Guardian (as reported by Costa Rica’s La Nación) that successive governments under Benjamin Netanyahu have failed to contain settler violence, endangering both Israeli and Palestinian societies.
“I have decided not only not to remain silent, but also to draw the attention of the ICC in The Hague so that it adopts law-enforcement measures and issues arrest warrants,” Olmert said. He accused the settlers of being “assisted, supported, and inspired by government circles.” The plea from a former head of state of Israel to an international court that his own country does not recognise is a striking escalation in the internal Israeli debate over West Bank policy.