Israeli politicians and media seemed to ignore an announcement April 30 by prosecutor Fatou Bensouda of the International Criminal Court (ICC)  in The Hague, maintaining that she still has the authority to investigate Israel Defense Forces (IDF) war crimes in Palestinian territories. Her statement looks like it slipped completely under their radar.

Under normal circumstances, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not miss a chance to attack the ICC and its prosecutor in the harshest possible terms, even claiming that it was motivated by anti-Semitic, pro-Palestinian sentiments. This time, however, he ignored the new development. In all of his dynamic statements over the last few days, especially on social media, he focused instead on Israel’s successful efforts in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Inevitably, he also brought up the slew of congratulations he received in honor of Israel’s Independence Day. The one thing that was conspicuously absent was any mention of Bensouda’s announcement.

This certainly is unusual. By way of comparison, when Bensouda announced in December that there were grounds to open an investigation against Israel for serious war crimes in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, Netanyahu was the first to respond. And he did it from every possible podium.

“This is a dark day for truth and justice. The prosecutor completely ignored the weighty legal arguments we presented to the court. It is scandalous and baseless,” Netanyahu said sternly in a video clip he released in response. Addressing world leaders, he went on to say, “New edicts are being cast against the Jewish people — anti-Semitic edicts by the International Criminal Court telling us that we, the Jews standing here next to this wall ... in this city, in this country, have no right to live here and that by doing so, we are committing a war crime. It’s absurd.”