Harris assures Netanyahu that US against ICC war crimes probe
The Biden administration is opposed to the International Criminal Court’s investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes, US Vice President Kamala Harris assured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call between the two leaders.
“Harris expressed the American administration’s complete opposition to the decision of the prosecutor of the ICC in The Hague,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement it released after the phone call.
The conversation came as Israel continues to seek support in its battle against last week’s decision by outgoing
ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to open an investigation into alleged war crimes by Israelis against Palestinians in Gaza and with respect to Jewish building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Last week Defense Minister Benny Gantz reached out to his German counterpart Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly.
“I spoke this evening with my counterparts in Germany, @akk, and France, @florence_ parly, about the ICC decision,
and voiced our conviction that it is a politically-motivated move that is likely to undermine the ability of democracies to defend themselves against terrorism,” Gantz tweeted.
“I reiterated that Israel has a strong and sound justice system, capable of independently investigating any allegations of violations of international law,” he added.
Earlier in the ICC proceedings, seven countries — The Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Austria, Australia, Brazil and Uganda — submitted briefs arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction. Canada has also spoken out against ICC jurisdiction in the past.
On Friday, the Hungarian government said it had “always disputed the decision of the Court that the territorial scope of its jurisdiction extends to Gaza, the West
Bank and East Jerusalem.”
It added that “Hungary remains a staunch supporter of Israel’s right to defend herself. We sincerely believe that lasting peace can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties based on mutual respect. However, the decision of the ICC does not take us closer to this.”
Prior to the Netanyahu-Harris call, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had also issued a statement of support for Israel.
Hamas on Saturday condemned the Biden administration for opposing the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate “war crimes” in the Palestinian territories.
“The US administration’s opposition to opening an investigation into crimes committed by the occupation is shameful,” said Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem.
Last week, Blinken said that Washington “firmly opposes and is deeply disappointed” by the ICC decision. “The Palestinians do not qualify as a sovereign state and therefore, are not qualified to obtain membership as a state in, participate as a state in, or delegate jurisdiction to the ICC,” Blinken said. “The ICC has no jurisdiction over this matter. Israel is not a party to the ICC and has not consented to the Court’s jurisdiction, and we have serious concerns about the ICC’s attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel.”
This US position, the Hamas spokesman said, “encourages the occupation to commit more crimes and violations and makes Washington complicit in the aggression against the Palestinian people.”
The Hamas spokesman added: “This position by the US administration makes the occupation above international law and outside the scope of international accountability and provides a cover for the criminal actions of the occupation, which fuels the conflict in the region.”
A senior Palestinian official in Ramallah also expressed disappointment with the Biden administration for opposing the ICC move.
“We were hoping that the Biden administration would adopt a policy that is different from that of the Trump administration,” the official said. “But this administration has shown
that it is also biased in favor of Israel. This position (by the Biden administration) will have a negative impact on efforts to resume the peace process. The Palestinian leadership is disappointed.”
In Washington last Wednesday a reporter asked US State department spokesman Ned Price, “Considering your position on the Palestinians now, where should the Palestinians go to get accountability for what they claim to be problems? To Israeli courts? Where do they go?”
He repeated the question several times without receiving a clear response. The question was raised again on Friday. Price referred the reporter to Blinken’s statement and spoke of the US commitment to a twostate resolution to the conflict.
“We have said we will seek to advance the possibility of achieving a negotiated twostate solution, and we continue to believe that the two-state solution is the best course because it guarantees that Israel would live in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state,” Price said.
In her phone call with Netanyahu, Harris “stressed the importance of advancing peace, security, and prosperity for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” the White House stated.
She also spoke of the importance of the Abraham Accords, brokered by the Trump administration under whose rubric Israel normalized ties with four of its Arab neighbors.
Tayseer Khaled, member of the PLO Executive Committee, on Saturday criticized the Biden administration’s policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Referring to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s speech on foreign policy, Khaled criticized him for ignoring the “suffering” of the Palestinians.
“Blinken did not even mention a word with regard to the suffering the Palestinian people face under occupation, nor anything about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and its impact on security and stability in the region,” Khaled said. “This confirms that the new US administration pays no attention to reviewing the destructive policy of the Trump administration.’
The PLO official pointed out that Blinken “totally ignored the legitimate rights of the Palestinians to have a viable state, while the Israeli occupation state continues to annex vast areas of the Palestinian territory in an attempt to undermine the so-called two-state solution.