TEL AVIV — The International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister, revealed the failure of a tacit understanding between associates of the premier and those of US President-elect Donald Trump to prevent such a development from happening.

Fear of the ICC warrant had deeply troubled Netanyahu for months. This was evident in his conversations with world leaders and why his people constantly raised the issue in their contacts with Trump’s staff during the presidential campaign.

According to political sources, Netanyahu’s associates had sought an unwritten agreement with Trump to thwart possible action by the ICC. Israeli leaders, they said, would continue their military offensives in Gaza and in Lebanon during the presidential campaign to deny the Biden administration a major diplomatic achievement. Then, if Trump won, they would move to end at least one of the wars, to ease the start of his mandate. In exchange, Trump would harness all of the United States' diplomatic might to pressure the ICC into not issuing the warrants. Thursday's action by the ICC nullified all the haggling.

After the court's announcement, Trump’s people virtually stormed the ICC. Mike Waltz, a Florida congressman and Trump's pick for national security adviser, slammed the decision. President Joe Biden’s White House also condemned it. It was too late. On Thursday afternoon, Netanyahu found himself metaphorically sitting at the same defendant's table as the Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, deposed Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir and many others.