"A major International Criminal Court ruling on Wednesday on a war crimes investigation of top Kenyan officials could have a serious impact on the ongoing ICC review of the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla incident.
The ICC's top court, the Appeals Chamber, reversed an ICC lower-court ruling in favor of an appeal by the ICC prosecution, reopening the possibility that the ICC prosecutor will ratchet up pressure on Kenya to cooperate in its war crimes investigations...
Wednesday's decision gives Israel a first read into how the ICC's top court might respond to an appeal by the ICC Prosecutor to quash the [Mavi Marmara] file once more.
The good news for Israel is that the ICC Appeals Chamber was ready to trust the prosecution's judgment over that of the lower court.
This is good in the Mavi Marmara case since, whereas the lower court appeared to push for the file to be reopened, the prosecution wanted to close the case.
On the flip side, the ICC Appeals Chamber showed a strong readiness to question a country's good faith in cooperating with the ICC.
Although Wednesday the country in the ICC's crosshairs was Kenya, and an excellent argument can be made that Kenya has openly undermined investigations of its officials whereas, and Israel, in contrast, may prosecute dozens of its officials on its own, the fact that Israel could be the ICC's next target should give the country pause...
It is now clear, however, that any ICC ruling on Israel will not be set in stone until the ICC top court has its say."