Santa came early this year, bringing a special present to the caretaker prime minister of Israel. Rather than donning his traditional red and whites, Santa appeared as Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, who announced on Dec. 20 that there is sufficient evidence to investigate alleged Israeli war crimes in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, territories it has occupied since 1967.

For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the timing was a Hanukkah miracle. Just days ahead of the primaries for the leadership of his Likud party [scheduled for Dec. 26] and less than three months before the March 2 general elections, Bensouda gave Netanyahu a golden opportunity. When masses of Israeli voters watched Netanyahu storm the bastions of The Hague, they saw their savior, a Jewish David challenging an international Goliath. His main political rival, Blue and White chair Benny Gantz, had no place in the scene.

The ICC, Netanyahu stated at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Dec. 22, has been turned into “a weapon in the political war against the State of Israel.” But the West Bank and Gaza Strip are not part of the state. Has Israel secretly imposed sovereignty on the West Bank town of Nablus and the Gaza refugee camp of Jabalia? And what about East Jerusalem? Even President Donald Trump, Israel’s best friend, did not recognize Israel’s annexation of the Shouafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem.

Thanks to Bensouda, Netanyahu took the opportunity to align himself with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who has just indicted him on charges of corruption. The interim prime minister has adopted his position that the ICC only has jurisdiction in petitions filed by sovereign states and “a sovereign Palestinian State does not exist … and the Palestinian entity manifestly fails to meet the criteria for statehood under general international law.”