Dershowitz to Newsmax: ICC 'Lost All of Its Credibility,' Netanyahu Trial 'Absurd'

Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said Sunday on Newsmax that since the International Criminal Court has lost all credibility, the ongoing corruption case against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "absurd" and should be ended with a presidential pardon.

Speaking on Newsmax's "The Record With Greta Van Susteren," Dershowitz said the ICC no longer carries legal authority in countries such as the U.S. and Israel, though its actions can still complicate international travel for Israeli officials.

"The International Criminal Court is not a court," Dershowitz said. "Israel has a perfectly legitimate legal system that prosecutes people who commit war crimes within Israel. When that happened, the International Criminal Court lost all of its credibility."

Dershowitz said neither the U.S. nor Israel is a member of the ICC, limiting its authority over leaders in those nations.

"So it doesn't matter in the United States, which isn't a member of the court, or in Israel, which isn't a member of the court," he said. "But it means that people like Netanyahu and the foreign minister and the defense minister can't travel freely around the world without fear of being detained and arrested. So to that extent, it does matter."

He said legal challenges are necessary to counter what he called "illegal actions by the International Criminal Court," which is based in The Hague.

Dershowitz also criticized the court's current leadership and said he previously worked to arrange a visit to Israel by the ICC's chief prosecutor during the conflict in Gaza.

"During the Gaza War, I had arranged with the chief prosecutor and his assistant to have the chief prosecutor come to Israel to actually meet not only with Netanyahu and the defense secretary, but also to go to Gaza and see for himself," Dershowitz said. "And it was all planned."

According to Dershowitz, the trip was later canceled, and the prosecutor instead moved toward issuing warrants.

The longtime constitutional scholar also addressed presidential war powers, saying the U.S. Constitution gives the commander in chief broad authority during military conflicts.

"When the framers of the Constitution wrote the provision that gave Congress the power to declare war, the original version was to give Congress the power to make war," Dershowitz said. "But James Madison, the father of the Constitution, said that would restrict the power of the commander in chief to engage in preventive action in the national interest of the United States.

"They changed it from make war to declare war, which is a much more limited power of Congress. Battlefield authority rests completely with the commander in chief."

Dershowitz also addressed Netanyahu's corruption trial in Israel, which began in 2020 and is still ongoing. He said he has been advising the prime minister's legal team and described the case as politically motivated.

"It's an absurd case," Dershowitz said. "They're going after him for doing what every politician has done: accept small gifts of gratitude. In this case, champagne and cigars."

He also dismissed allegations that Netanyahu tried to influence media coverage, saying that efforts to shape press narratives are common in politics.

"The first person any politician appoints is a press secretary," Dershowitz said. "They're always trying to influence news coverage."

Dershowitz said President Donald Trump was right to encourage Israel's president to consider pardoning Netanyahu.

"It would be the right thing to do for the president of Israel to issue a pardon now," Dershowitz said. "Stop the trial. Let the prime minister go on and continue to do what he does best, and that is defend Israel's national security against enemies who are sworn to destroy it."

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