Netanyahu asked Biden on his first phone call last week to uphold the Trump administration’s sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), Israeli officials told me.
Why does it matter: Israeli officials are concerned that the removal of sanctions would hamper Israel’s efforts to halt an investigation into potential war crimes in Israel, and that the court prosecutor may see this as a sign that the US is not firmly opposed to that investigation. .
The big picture: ICC judges paved the way for a possible investigation last month, when they ruled that the court has jurisdiction in the West Bank and Gaza. (Israel is not part of the Rome Statute, which defined the court’s mandate, but the Palestinian territories are.)
- Israel is very concerned that any investigation could lead to international arrest warrants against Israeli officers and military personnel and could spur BDS campaigns (boycott, divestment and sanctions) against Israel.
- Israel has asked dozens of allies to send a “discreet message” to urge the ICC’s prosecutor Fatou Bensouda not to proceed with the investigation, as Axios reported two weeks ago.
Flashback: Although it is also not part of the Rome Statute, the United States had its own confrontations with the ICC, which it elected last March to proceed with an investigation into the war in Afghanistan, which could involve American troops and the CIA.
- The Trump administration reacted furiously, imposing sanctions on ICC officials, including Bensouda, and threatening to sanction the next court judges.
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has promised further action if the ICC opens an investigation against Israel.
The situation: Israeli diplomats have argued to their American counterparts that, even if the government disagrees with the sanctions, it should keep them as a lever to persuade Bensouda and his successor not to pursue investigations in Afghanistan or the West Bank and Gaza.
- The issue was raised in a recent phone call between Ashkenazi and Blinken, Israeli officials said.
What they are saying: “In my phone call with President Biden, we talked about our moral obligation to protect our troops against those who are trying to defame their morality with false allegations,” said Netanyahu last Thursday at a memorial service for missing soldiers in action.
- His comments went unnoticed, but Israeli officials told me that he was hinting at possible ICC investigations against Israeli and American soldiers.
- Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on the story, as did the White House and the State Department.