Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered preparations for a lawsuit at the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The order was reported by Israeli television channel i24News, which cited sources, according to infohub.kz.
According to the channel's sources, the head of the Israeli government instructed an interagency team and the head of the Department of International Law to begin gathering materials for proceedings at the ICC against the Turkish leader.
Media reports say Netanyahu made the decision in response to "Erdogan's actions against the Kurds and financing of the Hamas group."
"The order followed Erdogan's statement that he had asked Interpol to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu; however, this step was just one link in a chain of escalating relations that led to the decision to prepare the lawsuit," the channel's report said.
According to i24News, the case will focus primarily on Erdogan's actions against the Kurdish minority in Turkey, although it will also address the Turkish government's financing of Hamas.
There is a possibility that Israel will initiate proceedings at the ICC itself, but it is more likely that a third party will be used to file the lawsuit. Israel does not recognize the ICC's jurisdiction because it has not signed the Rome Statute; Turkey is also not a party to it.
Nevertheless, sources note that Israel hopes to avoid actually filing the lawsuit, expecting to "use the very fact of preparing the case as leverage against Erdogan and a means of deterrence."
Netanyahu himself declined to comment on the information, and representatives of the Ministry of Justice took a similar position.