Netanyahu asked Biden in their first phone call last week to enforce sanctions imposed by the Trump administration on the International Criminal Court (ICC), Israeli officials say.
Why it matters: Israeli officials are concerned that lifting the sanctions would hinder Israel in its efforts to stop a possible war crimes investigation against Israel, and that the prosecution may see it as a signal that the US is not vehemently opposed against 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 a party to the Rome Statute, which sets the court’s mandate, but the Palestinian Territories are.)
- Israel is deeply concerned that any investigation could lead to international arrest warrants against Israeli officials and military officers and spur BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) campaigns against Israel.
- Israel asked dozens of allies to deliver a “discreet message” urging ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda not to proceed with the investigation, as Axios reported two weeks ago.
Flashback: While also not party to the Rome Statute, the US has had its own clashes with the ICC, which last March elected to investigate the war in Afghanistan that could involve US forces and the CIA. to be.
- The Trump administration responded furiously, imposing sanctions on ICC officials, including Bensouda, and then threatened to sanction the court’s judges.
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo promised further steps if the ICC opened an investigation into Israel.
The state of affairs: Israeli diplomats have argued to their US counterparts that even if the government does not agree with the sanctions, it should maintain them as leverage to persuade Bensouda and her successor to stop investigating Afghanistan or the West Bank and Gaza. to put.
- The issue was raised in a recent phone call between Ashkenazi and Blinken, Israeli officials say.
What they say: “In my phone conversation with President Biden, we talked about our moral duty to protect our troops from those who try to disgrace their morals with false claims,” Netanyahu said at a memorial service for missing soldiers on Thursday.
- His comments went unnoticed, but Israeli officials told me he was alluding to the possible ICC investigations against Israeli and US soldiers.
- Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on this story, as did the White House and the State Department.