Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who stepped down amid allegations of sexually harassing 11 women, has joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s legal team to counter arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. "I am proud to be on the legal defense for the prime minister against the arrest warrant at the ICC and I am proud to stand against antisemitism.," he declared.
Andrew Cuomo in press conference with PM Netanyahu
Cuomo, eyeing a potential run for New York City mayor next year, is showing increasing interest in Israel – a strategic move to court the Jewish vote in the city, home to the largest Jewish community outside of Israel. Since returning to public life last year, he has engaged in pro-Israel lobbying, strengthening his political ties with a significant voting bloc in local elections.
"This is the moment that counts. This is the moment that is going to be in the history books. …This is the moment that true friends stand up, shoulder to shoulder and fight for the State of Israel," Cuomo proclaimed at a New York event for the National Committee for the Advancement of Jewish Education. Cuomo, a trained lawyer and former New York State Attorney General, is the brother of former CNN star Chris Cuomo, who also got entangled in his brother’s scandal and had to leave his job.
The legal team was assembled by Netanyahu’s close friend, Professor Alan Dershowitz, and includes prominent figures in the American and global legal systems. Among them are former U.S. Attorneys General, former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, and Fox News host attorney Mark Levin.
Dershowitz and the team will argue that the ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel, which is not a member of the court, and that Israel’s judicial system is independent and effective.
"Israel has one of the best and most independent legal systems in the world, one that is both willing and able to investigate its own leaders. The Israeli courts have convicted and imprisoned a former prime minister, a former president and several ministers. Hamas has no such judicial system," Dershowitz wrote in a Wall Street Journal column, where he announced the members of Netanyahu’s legal team. "The U.S. should sanction the institution. This process is already under way in Congress and should be pursued."
He stated that the issuing of arrest warrants against Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reflects blatant discrimination by the international institution and equates Israel's defensive actions with Hamas's acts of terrorism. "Without making comparisons to the Holocaust, the ICC – which along with the International Court of Justice has shown bias against Israel for years – would probably have issued warrants against the Jewish fighters in the Warsaw ghetto along with the Nazis who were seeking to murder them. By pursuing these illegal and unjustified warrants, the ICC has lost its credibility."
Dershowitz also promised to prove that Israel's actions in Gaza do not violate any international laws or the laws of war.
"Even if the inflated numbers of casualties provided by the Hamas Health Services were accurate, the proportion of civilians to combatants killed by the Israel Defense Forces would be lower than in any comparable war anywhere in the world," he argued. "This certainly doesn’t qualify as genocide or any other war crime. In addition, the efforts by Israel and the international community to send food and other provisions into Gaza have been stymied by Hamas and by gangs who have stolen the shipments."
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He emphasized that this is not just a legal battle but also a fight for global public opinion. "This case will be tried in a courtroom in The Hague. It will also be tried in the court of public opinion, both in the U.S. and throughout the world. For that reason, I am assembling a team of world class lawyers from around the globe to help defend Israeli leaders against the false charges."
Dershowitz hopes the legal team will refute the charges and restore public confidence in international law. "The court undermines the rule of law and international morality," he wrote. "Our goal is to defend Israeli leaders and preserve the rule of law from corruption."