The ICC ruling is a fire alarm for Israel. Will it take heed? | Jo-Ann Mort

This is a moment of extreme crisis for Israel. Resorting to calling the ruling antisemitic', as Netanyahu did, won't cut it

Regardless of what the final international criminal court decision will be, Israel has entered a new era regarding its relations with its western allies, including the United States. The actions it takes against the Palestinians will no longer go unaccounted for.

This situation was accelerated by the war with Hamas. But the reality is that the international reckoning would have come regardless. That's because a 57-year occupation of the Palestinian people without a just resolution, coupled with a fascistic, racist government led by the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu - and reinforced by the far-right settler leaders Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, and the homeland security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir - cannot play without consequences in polite global company.

Jo-Ann Mort is co-author of Our Hearts Invented a Place: Can Kibbutzim Survive in Today's Israel? She writes frequently about Israel for US, UK and Israeli publications