Biden administration 'fundamentally rejects' ICC warrant for Netanyahu
The White House issued a brief but definitive response to the International Criminal Court’s warrants for Israeli officials, saying it “fundamentally rejects” the decision but ignored addressing the substance of the warrants.
“We remain deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision,” a statement from the White House’s National Security Council read.
“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 administration of President Joe Biden has long warned against any such moves by the court after its chief prosecutor Karim Khan announced in May that he would, in fact, be seeking the arrest warrants.
In a statement at the time, Biden called the notion “outrageous”.
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“Let me be clear,” Biden said, “whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas.”
The ICC announced the arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and a senior Hamas leader in Gaza, Mohammed al-Deif. When Khan announced that the ICC was seeking warrants, Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar were also included, but they have since been killed by Israel.
While the Israelis say they killed Deif - a seemingly elusive, shadowy figure within Hamas - no evidence has been provided to the court, and Hamas never confirmed his death.
Netanyahu, Gallant, and Deif are accused of a range of war crimes and crimes against humanity over atrocities committed since the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023 and Israel's resulting war on Gaza.
No arrest warrants have ever been issued for a major US ally before.
The US is not beholden to the ICC because it is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, a treaty that established the court in 1998. There are 124 countries that are state parties to the Rome Statute, including Canada, the UK, and the European Union.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Thursday that Canada will abide by its international obligations.
Fallout
The daily State Department briefing - a chance for national and international journalists to press the administration on its foreign policy decisions - was cancelled shortly after the news of the arrest warrants. It was, according to the website, initially scheduled for its regular 1:15pm EST timeslot.
Just last week, the department’s spokesperson, Matthew Miller, referred to an ICC decision in a post about Syria, indicating that Washington believes the court does have merit, but only in certain circumstances.
After a year of the Assad regime failing to comply with the International Court of Justice’s order to cease torture, we are designating a Syrian official for gross violations of human rights. The U.S. and our partners will continue to seek justice and accountability in Syria.
— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) November 15, 2024
On 17 March 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, deeming him responsible for “the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation”.
Like Israel, Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute.
But Biden was quick to welcome that decision, calling it “justified”. “He’s clearly committed war crimes,” the US president said.
That sentiment has been largely shared by many in the political sphere in both the Democratic and Republican parties.
But as Washington prepares for a Republican takeover in January, incoming leaders on Thursday promised to take swift action against the ICC for its warrants targeting Israel.
'US leaders … are exposing themselves to personal liability under international law'
- Raed Jarrar, Dawn advocacy director
“The ICC’s arrest warrant against Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Gallant is outrageous, unlawful, and dangerous,” the next Senate Majority Leader, Republican John Thune of South Dakota, said on the Senate floor.
He called on the current Majority Leader, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, to “bring a bill to the floor sanctioning the ICC”.
“If he chooses not to act, the new Senate Republican majority next year will,” Thune said.
There are strong indications that the incoming administration will take a tougher line with several international institutions that call out Israeli crimes.
President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for national security advisor, Mike Waltz, posted on X that the world “can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC & UN come January”.
However, the US-based advocacy group, Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn), warned current and future US leaders in a statement on Thursday about the liabilities involved.
“By continuing to provide military assistance to Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, despite credible accusations of war crimes by the ICC, US leaders … are exposing themselves to personal liability under international law,” Dawn’s advocacy director, Raed Jarrar, said in a statement.
“Article 25(3)(c) of the Rome Statute outlines clear criminal liability for aiding and abetting war crimes, which applies to individuals in non-member states like the US when their actions enable violations under ICC jurisdiction.”
While the US does not recognise the court’s jurisdiction, Palestine does, the statement noted.
This would suggest that US involvement in war crimes committed inside occupied Palestine opens up American officials to ICC prosecution, the group said.
On 7 October 2023, Hamas and other armed groups killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel. In its war on Gaza, Israel has killed at least 44,000 people, of which 70 percent have been women and children.
This number, tallied by Palestinian officials, does not account for the dead still under Gaza's rubble. The Lancet published a study estimating the dead at 186,000 or more.
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