The decision generated quick reactions both from Israel, which is not a member of the court and rejects its jurisdiction, and from the Palestinian Authority, which accepted the decision.
ICC judges said their decision was based on the fact that Palestine was granted as a member of the court’s founding treaty, and referred the situation to the court.
The judges said that the jurisdiction’s decision does not imply any attempt to determine the existence of a Palestinian state, which is uncertain, or national borders.
Netanyahu said: ‘The ICC refuses to investigate brutal dictatorships like Iran and Syria, which commit horrific atrocities almost daily “, and added that” we will fight this perversion of justice with all our strength! “
ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said her office was studying the decision and will decide what to do next “guided strictly by its independent and impartial mandate” to prosecute serious war crimes and atrocities when countries cannot or do not want to do it themselves.
Bensouda had discovered in December 2019 that “war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip”. She cited the Israeli Defense Forces and Palestinian armed groups like Hamas as possible perpetrators.
Video transcription
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: When the ICC investigates Israel for false war crimes, this is pure anti-Semitism. The court established to prevent atrocities like the Nazi Holocaust against the Jewish people now targets the Jewish people’s only state. First, it outrages that when Jews live in our homeland, it is a war crime. Second, it says that when democratic Israel defends itself against terrorists who murder our children, shoot at our cities, we are committing another war crime. Even so, the ICC refuses to investigate brutal dictatorships like Iran and Syria, which commit horrific atrocities almost daily. As Prime Minister of Israel, I assure you that we will fight against this perversion of justice with all our strength.