US slams ICC prosecutor’s call to arrest Israeli leaders

United States President Joe Biden on Monday denounced an “outrageous” application by the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor for an arrest warrant for Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant.

US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken also warned that efforts to secure a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza could be harmed by the move by the Hague-based court.

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan is seeking arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, as well as top Hamas leaders, on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“The ICC prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous. And let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas,” Biden said in a statement.

“We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”

Neither the US nor Israel is a member of the ICC and both have rejected its jurisdiction.

Biden did not comment on the warrant requests for the head of the Palestinian Hamas movement in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, and the movement’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh.

Biden’s expression of support for Netanyahu over the ICC bid comes despite recent disagreements with Israel over its conduct in the Gaza war.

Washington recently withheld a shipment of arms to Israel in a bid to warn off an offensive in the southern city of Rafah.

Top diplomat Blinken denounced the ICC application as “shameful” and warned it could harm ongoing efforts for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Hamas following the militant group’s October 7 attack on Israel.

“The United States fundamentally rejects the announcement today from the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court,” Blinken said in a statement.

 

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