Caught between activists in his party who seek to reduce his administration’s support for Israel and the majority of Americans, including most Jewish voters, who support the war effort against Hamas, President Joe Biden announced on Monday that he rejects an international tribunal’s efforts to prosecute Israeli leaders.
“Let me be clear: We reject the ICC’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders,” Biden said at a Jewish American Heritage Month event at the White House. “There is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas.”
“Contrary to allegations against Israel made by the International Court of Justice, what’s happening is not genocide. We reject that,” he added. The president was joined at the event by Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son, an American citizen, remains in Hamas captivity.
Earlier in the day, he issued a statement condemning International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan, who applied for an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, along with the leaders of Hamas. Khan’s statement slams both sides in the conflict for “war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of Israel and the State of Palestine.”
His description of Israel as “territory” and Palestine as a “state,” was noted by supporters of Israel as an example of bias against Israel, a functioning state with an independent judiciary, in contrast to Hamas. His equivalency was of Netanyahu and Gallant to Yahya Sinwar, Mohammad Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh.
“The ICC prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous,” Biden said in the statement. “Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.” He added that the war against Hamas is not genocide, as alleged in the indictment.
Also on that day, Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in Tel Aviv to hear their plan for evacuating civilians from Rafah, the last stronghold of Hamas resistance in Gaza. Although Biden spoke against Israeli troops entering Rafah earlier this month and threatened to reduce military aid if this “red line” is crossed, he approved a limited action against Hamas. With more than 900,000 Palestinians evacuated from Rafah, Biden’s concern for casualties was addressed by Israel.
“Israeli leaders have reached a consensus about a final assault on Hamas’ four remaining battalions in Rafah,” Washington Post columnist David Ignatuis wrote, citing sources close to the administration. “Instead of the heavy attack with two divisions that Israel contemplated several weeks ago, government and military leaders foresee a more limited assault that US officials think will result in fewer civilian casualties and, for that reason, Biden won’t oppose.”
Neither Israel nor the US are among the 124 nations that signed the Rome Statute that recognizes the International Criminal Court. Ironically, the treaty recognizes Palestine as a state, but the Palestinian Authority, despite its rivalry with Hamas, also declared its opposition to Khan’s application for an arrest warrant.
“The Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves,” PLO Executive committee member Wasel Abu Youssef said in a statement. “The ICC is required to issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials who are pursuing crimes of genocide in the Gaza Strip.”
Among world leaders, there were a few who joined Biden in opposing the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
“The ICC Chief Prosecutor’s proposal to issue an arrest warrant for the representatives of a democratically elected government together with the leaders of an Islamist terrorist organization is appalling and completely unacceptable,” Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said. His nation was among just nine that voted at the UN last month against recognizing Palestine as a full member. “We must not forget that it was Hamas that attacked Israel in October and killed, injured, and kidnapped thousands of innocent people.”
A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also promised not to pursue Israeli leaders. “This action is not helpful in relation to reaching a pause in the fighting, getting hostages out, or getting humanitarian aid in. The UK, as with other countries, does not yet recognize Palestine as a state, and Israel is not a state party to the Rome Statute.”
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer spoke against the court’s equivalency of Israel and Hamas. “We fully respect the independence of the ICC. The fact however that the leader of the terrorist organization Hamas whose declared goal is the extinction of the State of Israel is being mentioned at the same time as the democratically elected representatives of that very State is non-comprehensible.”
In a hostile world, it is important to note such leaders who recognize the injustice of this tribunal and Israel’s efforts to defend itself while mitigating harm to civilians.
By Sergey Kadinsky
