White House ‘fundamentally rejects’ ICC warrants for Israel’s Netanyahu and Gallant

The White House “fundamentally rejects” the International Criminal Court’s issuance of arrest warrants for two Israeli leaders over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

The ICC announced on Thursday it was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant because the court had “reasonable grounds to believe” that the two of them “each bear criminal responsibility for the following crimes as co-perpetrators for committing the acts jointly with others: the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”

Several Israeli and American officials were quick to denounce the court’s decision.

“The United States fundamentally rejects the Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials,” a National Security Council spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “We remain deeply concerned by the Prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision. The United States has been clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter. In coordination with partners, including Israel, we are discussing next steps.”

The spokesperson did not specify which countries, other than Israel, the United States was coordinating a response with.

A U.S. official said the administration is “deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants.” The official argued that the prosecutor, Karim Khan, has given other leaders “a meaningful opportunity to engage constructively and to properly consider its domestic processes” but not in this case.

The official cited the prosecutor’s treatment of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, among others, and said it “calls into question the credibility of the Prosecutor’s investigation and the decision today.”

Gallant, in response to the warrant for his arrest, said, “The decision of the court in The Hague will be remembered forever — it places the State of Israel and the murderous leaders of Hamas in the same row and thus legitimizes the murder of babies, the rape of women and the abduction of the elderly from their beds. The decision sets a dangerous precedent against the right to self-defense and moral warfare and encourages murderous terrorism.”

The Biden administration has been one of Israel’s biggest public defenders as it has fought against Hamas in Gaza for more than a year, devastating the Strip and bringing the region to the brink of a much wider and possibly regional conflict. The U.S. has continued to provide Israel with billions of dollars of military aid, and U.S. forces have come to Israel’s defense during two major Iranian missile barrages.

In diplomatic settings, the U.S. has also maintained its support for Israel in the face of growing opposition. The U.S. vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution on Wednesday that called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas but did not make the release of the hostages Hamas still holds a precondition for the deal, although it did call for them to be released.

Despite all of the Biden administration’s public support for Israel’s war efforts, it has also repeatedly urged them to go to greater lengths to both ensure humanitarian aid gets into Gaza and into the hands of civilians who need it most and to safeguard civilians better during the conflict. The death toll is believed to be over 40,000, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, a tally that does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Back in May, the ICC announced its intent to pursue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, and multiple Hamas leaders, though all of those Hamas leaders have since been killed by Israel.

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The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Mohammed Deif, one of Hamas’s leaders, whom the court could not confirm had been killed, though the Israelis have said he is dead.

The court “found reasonable grounds” to believe Deif is “responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder; extermination; torture; and rape and other form of sexual violence; as well as the war crimes of murder, cruel treatment, torture; taking hostages; outrages upon personal dignity; and rape and other form of sexual violence.”

Countries that are members of the ICC would be obligated to arrest Netanyahu or Gallant, should either step foot there. Leaders from both the Netherlands and Canada said they would abide by the obligation if put in that position.

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