Principles of universal jurisdiction and international justice are increasingly advocated, especially by non-state actors seeking accountability and justice, while states continue to push back in the name of sovereignty and political immunity. Israel and Turkey have recently made an inter-state agreement to put an end to the adjudication of criminal and civil actions by victims of the killings and other serious violations aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and Mavi Marmara aid ship in 2010. What are the implications of this agreement? On 2 December the High Criminal Court in Istanbul convenes to decide whether the criminal case in Turkey should continue. We ask whether it is true that, even in our globalized world, states can still get away with not holding perpetrators of serious international crimes to account.