The Biden government is opposed and is disappointed by the International Criminal Court’s decision to proceed with an investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in the Palestinian territories, State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Wednesday.
Affirming US support for Israel, Price said the ICC “has no jurisdiction over this issue”, which he said was “unjustly” targeting the Jewish state.
“Israel is not part of the ICC and has not consented to the jurisdiction of the court and we have serious concerns about the ICC’s attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel,” said Price, and echoed the US view that Palestinians did not meet the qualifications of a sovereign state required for the involvement of the ICC.
The Biden government’s position puts it in line with the policy of the former Trump administration, which criticized the ICC for targeting Israel as “unfair”.
Price further said that the Biden administration is reviewing an executive order from the former President Trump
Donald TrumpSouth Carolina Senate Adds Shooting as an Alternative Execution Method Former Trump aide Pierson does not run for a seat in the Dallas area. who imposed sanctions on the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, and its top deputies because of efforts to investigate alleged US war crimes in Afghanistan.
The sanctions, in which Bensouda was added to the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons, are normally used for terrorists and drug traffickers.
“As much as we disagree with the ICC’s actions in relation to the Palestinian situation and, of course, Afghanistan … we are thoroughly reviewing sanctions under Executive Order 13928, while we determine our next steps,” he said.
His comments came in response to an announcement on Wednesday in Bensouda that the ICC will open an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories since June 2014 – in particular related to the summer war between Israel and Hamas in the Strip Gaza and also including allegations of war crimes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The decision to open an investigation took five years to make, while the Palestinians pleaded for Israeli responsibility on the international stage and Israel, along with the United States, opposed the measures as biased and beyond the reach of the court.
Bensouda said in a statement that the court was conducting the investigation under an earlier ruling that was “unanimous in its view that Palestine is a State Party to the Rome Statute”, the agreement that governs countries where the ICC has jurisdiction .
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the decision of the ICC, saying in a statement that “this is a long-awaited step that serves Palestine’s relentless search for justice and responsibility, which are indispensable pillars of peace that the Palestinian people search and deserve ”.
But it was rejected by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin (Bibi) NetanyahuMORE, calling the ad “absurd”.
“It’s undiluted anti-Semitism and the height of hypocrisy,” he tweeted.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
“The decision of the International Court to open an investigation against Israel for war crimes today is absurd. It is pure anti-Semitism and the height of hypocrisy. pic.twitter.com/vGS7AX7SfN– Israel PM (@IsraeliPM) March 3, 2021
The Israeli ambassador to the United States and the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, said that Israel “will continue to work together with the American administration against this shameful decision”.
In May, Republican and Democratic lawmakers urged the former Trump administration to defend Israel from the investigation, saying the ICC has no jurisdiction in Israel or the Palestinian territories.