UK confirms ICC support after opposition to war crimes against Israel

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The UK reaffirmed its support for the International Criminal Court after Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued an unusual statement against his decision to investigate Israeli actions in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“We absolutely respect the independence of the International Criminal Court and we expect it to live up to its own mandate,” British Middle East and North Africa Minister James Cleverly told Parliament on Tuesday. The UK “remains a strong supporter of the ICC,” he added.

He responded to a question on the matter from Labor MP Wayne David, who later tweeted that Cleverly’s comment was a “slap in the face” to Johnson.

Palestinian Authority envoy to the UK Husam Zomlot interpreted Cleverly’s statement as a rejection of Johnson’s opposition to a possible war crime investigation against Israel at the ICC.

“We appreciate the UK Government’s support for the ICC, without exception. We also appreciate the role of the (labor) opposition in clarifying matters. War crimes must be punished no matter who commits them, ”tweeted Zomlot.

British Ambassador to Israel Neil Wigan addressed the issue in an interview with Jerusalem Post Editor-in-Chief Yaakov Katz and Senior Contributing Editor Lahav Harkov that will be published on the Post’s weekly podcast later this week.

Wigan said his country was a strong ICC supporter, adding that it respects the court and wants it to be successful. But as Prime Minister Johnson pointed out, we have really been concerned about how it approaches the situation in Palestine, both from a legal standpoint and given our support for Israel.

“We have made that position public. The judge must be independent to decide how to do this. But we felt it was important to make that position publicly known. It’s very unusual, it’s very rare that we comment publicly on an ICC issue, so this is an important statement for us, ”said Wigan.

Johnson addressed the topic in response to a question from the Conservative Friends of Israel. In it, he confirmed his support for the independence of the ICC.

Johnson wrote, “As one of the founders of the ICC, we have been one of the strongest supporters and continue to respect the institution’s independence.

However, he added, “We are against the ICC’s investigation of war crimes in Palestine. We do not accept that the ICC has jurisdiction in this case, as Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute and Palestine is not a sovereign state. This investigation gives the impression of being a partial and prejudicial attack on a friend and ally of the UK. “

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