US slams ICC arrest warrants against Israeli leaders
US President Joe Biden has criticised the International Criminal Court (‘ICC’) for announcing it is seeking arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes in Gaza.
‘The ICC prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous,’ Biden said in a brief statement on 20 May.
At the ICC, Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan KC announced he is also seeking warrants for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh, on accusations of ‘war crimes and crimes against humanity on the territory of Israel and the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least 7 October 2023.’
‘Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security,’ Biden commented.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken also criticised the ICC, saying ‘the United States fundamentally rejects the announcement’ and stressing that the court ‘has no jurisdiction over this matter.’
‘The ICC was established by its state parties as a court of limited jurisdiction,’ he commented. ‘Those limits are rooted in principles of complementarity, which do not appear to have been applied here amid the Prosecutor’s rush to seek these arrest warrants rather than allowing the Israeli legal system a full and timely opportunity to proceed.’
