On Friday, the United States rejected the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who are accused of ‘crimes against humanity and war crimes’.
Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary expressed concern over the decision in a press briefing, and said that, “We fundamentally reject the court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials.” She further criticised the haste by the prosecutor in seeking the warrants and pointed out troubling process errors that led to the outcome. Jean-Pierre also added that the United States has been clear about the ICC’s lack of jurisdiction over this matter.
“Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no evidence, none between Israel and Hamas, there’s just none,” she said. The White House is working closely with its partners, including Israel, to discuss the next steps. Jean-Pierre reaffirmed, “We fundamentally reject that the ICC has jurisdiction over the situation, and so that’s something that we’ve been pretty clear about and we’ll continue to.”
This statement comes as the US continues to show support for Israel amid the ICC’s charges against its leaders. Meanwhile, the ICC in The Hague on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, accusing them of “crimes against humanity and war crimes.” The charges include allegations of targeting civilians and enforcing policies of starvation in Gaza.
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas officials. It accuses them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza and the October attacks that triggered Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory. Prime Minister Netanyahu condemned the ICC’s decision in a statement on his social media platform, calling it “antisemitic” and comparing it to the infamous Dreyfus trial. In a video posted on his X handle, Netanyahu said, “The antisemitic decision of the international court in The Hague is a modern Dreyfus trial, and it will end the same way.”
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