Netanyahu should be terrified about Duterte's arrest

The murderous former Filipino leader is more expendable, but Israel's genocidal leader should sleep less soundly

This should terrify Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant.

This morning, Rodrigo Duterte, the former President of the Philippines, was arrested as he arrived at Manila airport.

The police were acting on an arrest warrant which charges him with crimes against humanity committed during the so-called war on drugs under his presidency. And the institution which issued this arrest warrant?

The International Criminal Court. The same International Criminal Court which has issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his former defence minister for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Palestine. And yes, the same International Criminal Court which has also issued arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his associates over the invasion of Ukraine.

He has now been put on a chartered plane to the Hague to be tried there. This is the first time a former head of state will have stood trial at the ICC.

An important point here. Duterte was democratically elected by his people, rather than a dictator who seized power without popular consent. Philippines is a “representative democracy”. That is not relevant as to whether Duterte has committed crimes for which he should be held legally accountable. Now I don’t accept Israel is a democracy - it’s an ethno-state which subjects Palestinians to murderous, indeed genocidal occupation which they have no say over. But Duterte’s fate blows apart the argument that leaders who have democratic mandates should not face justice for war crimes they have committed.

Yes, it will be justifiably said that - well, Duterte and Netanyahu are not the same. Sure, Duterte wasn’t a Western ally per se - although the West did arm him and flirt with him - but he’s not white, and the Philippines isn’t a central Western client state like Israel. Well, we will discuss this.

Notably, the ICC began investigating Duterte in 2018 - two years after his assumption of power - and he withdrew from the Rome Statue which made the Philippines a member state of the ICC the following year. But that means the crimes he committed between 2016 and 2019 still fall within the jurisdiction of the Court.

And the crimes committed by this man are heinous indeed. In his 6 years in power, between 12,000 and 30,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed. According to the NGO Human Rights Watch, Duterte’s victims were mostly the urban poor. Those responsible for this massacre were the police conducting unlawful killings, or armed individuals believed to be linked to the police. They note he was explicit about his intent, telling a crowd of more than 300,000 supporters on the eve of his election victory:

If I make it to the presidential palace I will do just what I did as mayor. You drug pushers, holdup men, and do-nothings, you better get out because I'll kill you.

As the regional director of fellow human rights’ organisation Amnesty International put it in 2019:

President Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’ continues to be nothing but a large-scale murdering enterprise for which the poor continue to pay the highest price.

Amnesty report that those killed were on so-called ‘drug watch lists’ compiled by the state, who were not put through any judicial process at all. Local officials were instructed to show results by collecting names of those deemed “users,” “pushers,” “financiers,” and “protectors” in their patch - which Amnesty say were unreliable, illegitimate and unjustifiable lists.

Amongst those killed were at least 122 children, including a one year old. This was reported to be an underestimate, because relatives were threatened by police and told not get in touch with NGOs.

Under oath, Duterte admitted that he kept a “death squad” to supposedly crack down on crime when he was mayor of one of the biggest cities in the Philippines.

His victims were not simply those alleged to be drug users or dealers. Dozens of trade unionists were murdered under his rule.

Duterte is a straightforward monster. After become President, he once declared:

Hitler massacred three million Jews... there's three million drug addicts. I'd be happy to slaughter them.

(To be clear, Adolf Hitler’s regime murdered 6 million Jews).

In 2016, he told the BBC he’d personally shot dead three men while mayor, and in 2017, Duterte claimed he’d stabbed a person to death as a teenager. He declared he’d sexually assaulted a maid. He joked to soldiers they could rape women with impunity.

Now what of Duterte’s relationship with the West? Sure, he engaged in anti-Western rhetoric and brought the Philippines closer to China. But under his murderous regime, arms exports from Britain to the Philippines surged. Donald Trump hailed what he called his “great relationship” with Duterte, and later brokered an arms sale to Philippines worth $2 billion. Duterte said that "Trump is a good friend of mine. He speaks my language” And in 2021, Duterte pivoted away from China in favour of the US.

As for his relationship with Israel - well, in 2018, Duterte met with Benjamin Netanyahu to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.

At a press conference, Duterte declared:

"May we continue to be blessed with a strong relationship. We share the same passion for peace. We share the same passion for human beings. But we also share the same passion of not allowing a family to be destroyed by those who [have] corrupt ideologies... In this sense, Israel can expect any help that the Philippines can extend."

Well, no further comment needed there.

A few months later, Duterte thanked Israel for supplying “very substantial and crucial equipment” to crush a rebel uprising.

Well look, Duterte clearly never believed he’d actually be arrested and sent on a plane to the Hague. He committed these grave crimes thinking he had impunity - that he could behave how he wanted with no consequences. It has proven otherwise.

His old pal Netanyahu isn’t the same kettle of fish. Someone like Duterte is far more expendable from the West’s perspective. Israel is a far more important strategic ally of Western power. Western leaders are far more complicit in Israel’s crimes. Some ICC member states have refused to honour the arrest warrants.

As Karim Khan, ICC Chief Prosecutor, told CNN last year:

I've had some elected leaders speak to me and they were very blunt. 'This court is built for Africa and for thugs like Putin,' was what one senior leader told me.

But Israel’s genocide is a much graver crime. No crime has been so confessed to as it happened, no crime has been so documented as it happened. Public opinion in Western states, not least the US, is swinging away from Israel. Is Netanyahu likely to be arrested anytime soon? Alas, no. But if I were him, I would be sweating a little be more, and sleeping a little bit less soundly.

The victims of Duterte deserve justice in their own right. He has committed heinous crimes for which he should be held accountable for, just as other criminal leaders, including Vladimir Putin should be held accountable for theirs. For all leaders, like Netanyahu and his associates, who commit atrocities against fellow humans, accountability has inched a little bit closer.