After the Foreign Ministry and the Supreme Court failed in their attempt to prevent indictments against Israel in The Hague - it is time for the language of power • Opinion

• The International Court of Justice in The Hague // Photo: GettyImages

In the humorous respite of the Cabinet meeting, those present joked that immediate arrest warrants by the Hague Tribunal would actually help the right politically. "The first to be arrested will be IDF commanders in recent years, Benny Gantz, Gabi Ashkenazi and Boogie Ya'alon," one minister said.

But every joke has a kernel of truth, and that too. Not because someone in the cabinet longs for blue-white head arrest, but because cynicism suggests internalizing the gravity of the situation. The threat posed by the Hague is not dull and long-lasting but silky and immediate. From the prime minister to the last of the officials - everyone who attended the dramatic meeting understood this. Within three months some of the country's leaders may have trouble visiting the world's most important countries.

Mendblit's PhD was of no avail

so what are we doing? The legal system offered legal tools. The political system offered political tools. The position that has not been adequately expressed at the meeting is the complete failure of these systems to provide results so far.

Something needs to be understood. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit's PhD deals with the threat posed to Israel by international law. Inspired by Mendelblit, in his previous roles, the IDF has undergone a judicial process over the past decade to the level of legal approval for shell fire on a sandy day, all to prevent future intervention by the Hague Tribunal. A thousand IDF attorneys were unable to stop the incident.

The same is true of the political struggle. In a half-tea-half-coffee approach, Israeli representatives have unofficially tried to persuade the plaintiff in recent years of the justice of our legal positions. Here, too, the intentions were sincere, but the effort was completely broken. In essence, we were thrown out of all the stairs just as the tribunal judges are expected to do.

The decision of the International Court of Justice in The Hague

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The American example

As with any other international forum, and especially if it purports to engage in human rights, Israel is a cautionary minority. According to international law, not only Zambish and the Yesha Council are war criminals but also Nir Barkat, Moshe Leon and anyone who approved the construction of new neighborhoods in Jerusalem, headed by Prime Minister Netanyahu.

In this state of affairs, when the political or legal system is unable to respond, the use of completely different tools - power tools. The American experience shows that this language is well understood in the tribunal. It was time for us to start talking to her.