“They [US and Israel] both consider themselves exceptional nations with impunity from the law, the international law doesn't apply to them,” he says.
The United States is only going to discredit itself if it maintains “this stance against the ICC,” Anderson suggests, noting how in other circumstances – such as, for example, the warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, issued on “much flimsier grounds of moving children out of a war zone” – Washington has been “very enthusiastic” about the ICC’s actions.
“The ICC action is particularly important because up until now, it's really been seen largely as a tool of the Western powers, the US and the NATO states,” he points out.
The ICC moving against top Israeli government officials may be interpreted as a sign of a “decline in US influence in the ICC and probably in other international institutions,” Anderson suggests.
“The US, of course, has not signed up to the statute and has always demanded immunity for its troops when they've gone into other countries, many dozens of other countries,” he says. “So they've never regarded the laws applying to them, nor their proxies like the Israeli colony.”
The ICC's move is also going to affect Israel’s influence and its ability to “influence other states,” Anderson claims.
“Particularly the Europeans will be faced with a challenge as to whether they comply with their commitments under the Statute of Rome, or whether they're going to try and claim that the Israelis, like the US, has some exceptional status and laws do not apply to the Israeli colony,” he explains.