The International Criminal Court draws a false analogy between Israel and Hamas.

The Interior Minister went on air this morning in an attempt to put out the flames of the Prime Minister’s comments on the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu.

Yvette Cooper effectively declined to comment, saying it was unlikely that the Israeli prime minister would be arrested in the UK, stressing that the “vast” majority of International Criminal Court decisions do not turn into problems for the British law enforcement system. This was in stark contrast to Keir Starmer, at least in tone, who had said hours earlier that the UK would respect the ICC order.

What is troubling about the ICC decision is the moral equivalence it places between Israel, on the one hand, and Hamas, the terrorist organization. There can be no doubt about the horrific humanitarian consequences of the war in Gaza, where thousands of civilians, including women and children, have been killed. At the same time, it was a war deliberately started by Hamas, which intended to kill Jews on October 7 last year, when 1,100 people were killed, women raped and 250 taken hostage. About 100 people remain in captivity.

Moreover, the ICC has traditionally been the venue for trials where such action is deemed impossible in the accused’s country. Israel is a democracy with the rule of law. Netanyahu, like any Israeli citizen, could expect a fair trial, and it is therefore questionable whether this measure was even necessary. Moreover, Israel is not a signatory to the treaty, so it, like other countries, argued that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over the matter. And while the ICC tried to try to appear impartial, two of the Hamas leaders it indicted are dead.

Despite all the shortcomings, the effect of this solution is no less frightening. As a practical matter, Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant can now expect to be arrested if they visit any of the 124 countries party to the Rome Statute, including many of Israel’s allies. This is further isolating Israel as it fights not only Hamas in Gaza, but also other Iranian-backed terrorist groups such as Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq. Then there is the threat from Iran itself, which has twice attacked Israel directly with drones and ballistic missiles in the past few months.

Ultimately, the ICC decision makes the ceasefire so important to ending the bloodshed more likely.