The Biden administration opposes and is disappointed with the International Criminal Court’s decision to open an investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in the Palestinian territories, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Wednesday.
Price confirmed US support for Israel, saying the ICC “has no jurisdiction over this matter,” which he says is “unfairly” directed against the Jewish state.
“Israel is not a party to the ICC, and it has not agreed to the jurisdiction of the court and we are deeply concerned about the ICC’s attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel,” Price said, reiterating the opinion. of the US that the Palestinians do not. meet the qualifications for a sovereign state required for the involvement of the ICC.
The position of the Biden administration is in line with the policies of the former Trump administration, which criticized the ICC for targeting Israel “unfairly”.
Price went on to say that the Biden government is reviewing a past executive order President Trump
Donald Trump Senate in South Carolina Adds Firing Squad as Alternative Execution Method Ex-Trump Assistant Pierson Won’t Run for Seat in Dallas-area House House Oversight Panel Reissues Subpoena for Trump’s Accounting Firm MORE which imposed sanctions on the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda and her top deputies, for investigating alleged war crimes committed by the US in Afghanistan.
The sanctions, which added Bensouda to the list of specially designated subjects and persons blocked, are typically used for terrorists and drug traffickers.
“As much as we disagree with the actions of the ICC with regard to the Palestinian situation, and of course with Afghanistan … we are thoroughly reviewing sanctions under Executive Order 13928 as we determine our next steps” , he said.
His comments came in response to an announcement earlier Wednesday from Bensouda that the ICC will open an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the Palestinian Territories since June 2014 – particularly in connection with the summer war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and also including allegations of war crimes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The decision to open an investigation was five years in the making, as Palestinians advocated Israeli accountability on the international stage and Israel, along with the US, opposed the measures as biased and beyond the reach of the court.
Bensouda said in a statement that the court continued the investigation in accordance with a previous ruling that was “unanimous in its view that Palestine is a state party to the Rome Statute,” the agreement governing the countries where the ICC has jurisdiction. .
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry welcomed the ICC’s decision, saying in a statement that “this is a long-awaited step that serves Palestine’s tireless pursuit of justice and accountability, which are indispensable pillars of the peace that the Palestinian people seek and deserve. . “
But it was rejected by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu MORE, what the announcement calls ‘absurd’.
“It’s undiluted anti-Semitism and the height of hypocrisy,” he tweeted.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
The decision of the International Court of Justice today to open an investigation against Israel for war crimes is absurd. It is undiluted anti-Semitism and the height of hypocrisy. pic.twitter.com/vGS7AX7SfN– PM from Israel (@IsraeliPM) March 3, 2021
Israeli ambassador to the United States and the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, said Israel “would continue to cooperate with the US government against this disgraceful decision.”
In May, Republican and Democratic lawmakers had urged the former Trump administration to defend Israel from the probe, saying the ICC has no jurisdiction in Israel or the Palestinian territories.