'We want an arrest warrant for Biden': Activists call for wider accountability for Gaza war

The International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant have emboldened organisers to push harder for an end to the war on Gaza, anti-war activists and pro-Palestinian advocates told Middle East Eye on Thursday.

At the same time, they say the warrants are a grossly inadequate development, given the carnage still unfolding in Gaza.

With the death toll in Gaza said to be anywhere between 44,000 and 186,000 or even more, activists in the US said the development would be a step forward in making Israel a pariah state, though the priority remained to find a way to halt the flow of weapons to Israel, which the US government refuses to do. 

On Thursday, human rights groups were scampering to respond to a failed Senate vote led by Bernie Senators to block new arms sales to Israel the previous night, as well as to the other development later in the morning that saw Congress vote in favour of Resolution 9495; which, if passed by the Senate, would make it easier to criminalise and target charities and pro-Palestinian nonprofits in the US.

Beth Miller, political director of Jewish Voice for Peace, called the bill "a five-alarm fire for anyone who seeks to protect free speech, civil society and democracy".

Hours before the ICC's announcement on Thursday, Israel killed close to 100 Palestinians in separate air strikes, in what signalled Israel's intent to continue its devastating bombing campaign in northern Gaza.

While the prospect of a ceasefire seems more remote than ever, organisers said the warrants would go a long way towards influencing the world to isolate Israel for its ongoing crimes.

"Israel, across the world now, even in the United States, is being seen as the pariah, racist, white supremacist, settler-colonialist Zionist state that it is," Hatem Abudayyeh, an organiser with US Palestinian Community Network, told MEE.

"I think that is what this represents: the continuation of Israel's isolation in the world. I would love to see them come outside the confines of their bunkers and challenge these warrants," the Chicago-based Abudayyeh added.

Sober and measured responses

While activists welcomed the news of the warrants, several expressed a measured and sober response to the developments' significance.

Abdulla Akl, a long-time political organiser based in New York City, said the warrants for Netanyahu, while notable, would once again distinguish those who respected the rule of law and those who would find ways to disavow it.

For months, the US has found ways to shield Israel, refusing to support a ceasefire or an arms embargo, even as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said Israel's actions in Gaza amount to a "plausible genocide". 

Akl said it was inconceivable that American names could be excluded from the charge sheets.

"Where are the rest of the arrest warrants for the people who were just as complicit as Netanyahu, the people that were just as complicit like [President] Joe Biden, like [Vice-President] Kamala Harris, and the list goes on and on with [Secretary of State] Tony Blinken and others?" Akl asked rhetorically, adding, "We want an arrest warrant for Biden."

"The Biden administration made sure to sign off on the weapons deals. They made sure to play the back door conversation."

Akl's cynicism of the ICC was echoed by other organisations and activists' measured reactions to the warrants. 

In its statement, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's Abed Ayoub said the warrants for Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Gallant represented "a critical step toward accountability for grave violations of international law".

"The Biden administration's complicit backing of Israel has fuelled this genocide and violated international norms, isolating the US from the global community and undermining its credibility. The United States' refusal to hold perpetrators accountable sends a dangerous message of impunity."

Ayoub said the ICC's decision to issue warrants reaffirmed the principle that no one is above the law.

Other groups, like the Jewish youth-led group, IfNotNow, said the warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, and al-Qassam Brigades commander Mohammed Deif were a "step in the right direction towards holding them accountable for their role in crimes against humanity".

The group said the warrants won't bring back the Palestinians or Israelis killed, but it's a step in the right direction.

"We hope it may bring a measure of justice and enable the world to avert catastrophes like this again. Political leaders in the US should support the ICC’s efforts instead of threatening, sanctioning, and delegitimizing the court," the group said in a statement.

However, Akl said he was sceptical about the ICC's decision to issue warrants for Deif alongside those for Netanyahu and Gallant.

Deif, whose real name is Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, was included for his role in the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, even though Israel claims he was already killed in Gaza.

Akl said there can be no equivalence made between the actions of Hamas and the Israeli state with regard to intent or scale of violence, and it made no sense for him to have been included.

"It's also very clear that the ICJ knows that by putting out these warrants at the same time, it makes it sound like both sides are equal. And that's very problematic here because even when we look at the situation from October 7 to now, it is very clear that the proportions are not the same at all," Akl said.

"What's really important to show is that Israel had a very clear intention to murder as many Palestinians as possible in so many different kinds of ways," Akl added.

The anti-war movement in US

Israel's war on Gaza has ushered in the most significant anti-war movements in the US since the Vietnam War.

For the past year, hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets in several American cities to protest against the war and lead disruptions at train stations, on highways and bridges, and even within government buildings, in an attempt to draw attention to the carnage being unleashed on Gaza.

In the spring of 2024, students set up encampments at more than 100 campuses to pressure their universities to disclose and divest from Israel and to call for an end to Israel's war on Gaza. Universities responded by calling in the police to clear up the protest sites, censoring students and faculty as well as portraying student protests against Israel's war on Gaza as antisemitic.

On the streets, too, protesters have been met with increasing police brutality and restrictions.

Tensions are already boiling, with President-elect Donald Trump promising to up the ante when he takes office in January 2025.

Akl, from New York City, says the movement for Palestine would not hinge on Netanyahu being imprisoned for his crimes or not.

However, the call by the ICC to have him arrested and tried does help, he says.

"It does not mean that our calls for divestment are over because we know that it isn't just Netanyahu. We are looking for something larger ... and so Netanyahu is really just the start, and our work is long from over until Palestine is, of course, free, and until the land has returned."

"The goal is to continue this work now more than ever, now that more people are watching it," Akl added.