2024-05-23 22:12:16
The President of the USA has sharply attacked the Worldwide Legal Court docket (ICC) over its request for an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in reference to battle crimes.
“The ICC prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants in opposition to Israeli leaders is outrageous. And let me be clear: no matter this prosecutor is implying, there isn’t a equivalence, none, between Israel and Hamas. We’ll at all times stand by Israel in opposition to threats to its safety,” mentioned Joe Biden.
On Monday, Hague courtroom prosecutor Karim Khan introduced that he was issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Yoav Galant, Israel’s protection minister. Khan can be prosecuting three high Hamas leaders over the assaults on Israel on October 7 final yr.
On the identical time, in a fierce private assault, Netanyahu mentioned that Karim Khan is without doubt one of the “nice anti-Semites of our time”. The Israeli prime minister went even additional, evaluating the prosecutor to judges in Nazi Germany who denied primary rights to Jews and allowed the Holocaust.
Human rights activists have complained for years that highly effective Western nations, led by the USA, flip a blind eye to Israeli violations of worldwide legislation. In accordance with them, the motion taken by Khan was too late.
The ICC is the world’s first everlasting worldwide battle crimes courtroom, and its 124 member states are required to instantly arrest a needed particular person if he’s on their territory. The US is just not a member of the ICC and it will possibly put stress on its allies – primarily EU nations – to not act on the orders, consultants imagine.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2023 over alleged battle crimes in Ukraine, however it’s the first time the courtroom has tried to intervene within the Center East battle.