Pro-Israel Organizations: International Legal Forum, UKLFI, B’nai B’rith, Jerusalem Institute and Simon Wiesenthal Center.

1. This is an Application for leave to file written observations on the question of jurisdiction set forth in paragraph 220 of the Prosecutor’s Request pursuant to article 19(3) of the Rome Statute filed on 22 January 2020 (“the Prosecutor’s Request”) under paragraph e) of the Court’s Order of 28 January 2020 (“the Order”).

2. This Application is made by the following NGOs: UK Lawyers for Israel (“UKLFI”), B’nai B’rith UK (“BBUK”), the International Legal Forum ("ILF"), the Jerusalem Initiative ("JI") and the Simon Wiesenthal Center (“SWC”).

Details of Affiliation and Expertise

3. UKLFI is an independent association of lawyers who seek to ensure the proper application of laws in matters relating to Israel. It is not sponsored by any State or government. Its Board is elected by its members and its staff are appointed by the Board. UKLFI primarily seeks to ensure that the legal rights of the State of Israel, Israelis and supporters of Israel under both international and national laws are correctly understood and respected. UKLFI’s members and honorary patrons include some of the most distinguished members of the British legal profession, including in the fields of human rights law, international law and criminal law. The proposed submission will be prepared by members of the English Bar, with expertise in public international law, who have given close consideration to the points that we propose to address.

4. BBUK is the UK branch of B'nai B'rith International (“BBI”), a global Jewish advocacy and human rights organisation headquartered in Washington and the oldest Jewish service organisation in the world. Founded in 1843, it has members in 59 countries and representatives at the UN in New York, the UNHRC in Geneva and UNESCO in Paris. BBI is committed to defending Jewish interests, fighting antisemitism in all its forms and defending Israel from malicious misrepresentations and ignorance. It also fights against intolerance directed towards other minorities, including persecuted Christians in the Middle East and the Roma in Europe.

5. ILF is an Israeli human rights organization dedicated to combatting antisemitism terrorism and the delegitimization of Israel and the Jewish people. Through its practice, the ILF has developed considerable expertise on the legal issues surrounding International law and the Israeli-Arab conflict. The ILF has previously made observations before the ICC regarding the “Situation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan”. 1 The ILF, as an Israeli civil society organization, represents a large portion of Israeli civil society. It seeks to guarantee that the concerns and voices of Israeli civil society are adequately brought before the Court.

6. JI is a non-profit organization established to empower Arabic-speaking Israeli Christians, of all denominations, and supports their full integration in the country’s social fabric. Its members share immense pride as citizens of a country that respects religious minorities and their freedoms to worship. Israel, the Jewish State, is the only place where Christians in the Middle East are, in fact, safe in body and spirit. The Arabic-speaking Christian community in Jerusalem is directly affected by the ICC's determination of Palestinian jurisdiction over Jerusalem.

7. SWC was founded in 1977 in honour of the Nazi war criminal investigator, who brought over 1,200 Holocaust murderers to the bar of justice. The Centre is today an international Jewish human rights organization with a constituency of over 400,000 members. It applies the lessons of the Holocaust to counter antisemitism and other contemporary forms of discrimination and hate. Its international network works through regional offices for Europe in Paris, Latin America in Buenos Aires, and the Middle East in Jerusalem. It is accredited as an NGO at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Organization of American States, the Latin American Parliament and the Council of Europe.