Washington
CNN
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The Biden administration on Monday strongly condemned the International Criminal Court’s efforts to obtain arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials and Hamas leaders, saying the court’s efforts put the terrorist organization and a key U.S. ally on equal footing.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview on Monday that the international tribunal will issue war crimes charges against officials including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. He said he was seeking arrest warrants for each of their roles in crimes against humanity. Tens of thousands of Palestinians died in the October 7 Israeli attack and the ensuing war.
Khan said the prosecution team was also seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and top Hamas officials.
Biden called the ICC’s efforts “outrageous” in a statement Monday.
“Let me be clear: No matter what this prosecutor says, there is no equivalent relationship between Israel and Hamas. There is none,” the president said in a statement.
Speaking at a White House reception commemorating Jewish American Heritage Month late Monday, Biden reiterated his position that there is no merit in pursuing an arrest warrant by the ICC.
“It’s clear that Israel wants to do everything in its power to ensure the protection of civilians,” Biden said. “Let me be clear: what is happening now is not genocide.”
Mr. Khan’s pursuit of the warrant gives Mr. Biden, a longtime supporter of Israel and its right to exist, an opportunity to speak out strongly in support of America’s largest Middle East ally at a time of strained relations between the president and Israeli leadership. Ta. Earlier this month, in an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett, Biden put conditions on US aid to Israel for the first time, regarding Israel’s plans to invade Rafah in southern Gaza. Biden has also held several frank phone conversations with the Israeli prime minister in recent months, trying to persuade Netanyahu to pursue options that do not involve military operations in populated areas.
The announcement marks the first time the ICC has sought an arrest warrant for a leader of a major U.S. ally, with Prime Minister Netanyahu in a position to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin and the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, both of whom are (who was the subject of arrest). By ICC.
ICC prosecutor Khan dismissed criticism of the court’s efforts to secure the warrant. “No one is above the law,” he told Mr. Amanpour.
Neither the United States nor Israel are members of the ICC. But if the court approves arrest warrants for Netanyahu or Gallant, the decision would make it extremely difficult for either Israeli leader to travel to any of the 124 countries that are parties to the court’s laws, including key U.S. allies such as Britain and the United Kingdom. Germany would force member states to cooperate with efforts to extradite those subject to the warrants.
News that the ICC was seeking warrants against Israeli leaders led to condemnation from the United States and some allies. Britain said the court’s efforts were “to no avail” in halting the fighting. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States “fundamentally rejects” the court’s announcement and said it “could jeopardize” efforts between the conflicting parties to reach a ceasefire and hostage release agreement.
Biden administration officials also questioned whether the ICC had jurisdiction to seek these arrests.
House Speaker Mike Johnson called the ICC effort “baseless and unwarranted” and said House Republican leadership would consider sanctions following the court’s decision. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the Biden administration would remain in close contact with members of Congress, but stopped short of expressing support for Republican efforts to impose new sanctions on the ICC. Stated.
Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with Democrats even though his positions on Israel often conflict with Biden’s, said he supported the ICC’s decision. Sanders is one of Israel’s most prominent Jewish politicians and has been critical of Israel’s war effort.
“The ICC prosecutor is right to take these actions,” Sanders said in a statement, adding, “It is imperative that the international community upholds international law.”
Despite Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer strongly condemning the ICC effort, several Senate Democratic leaders have refused to take a clear position, and the party’s internal debate over Israel’s response to the war has declined. This highlighted the widening of the cracks.
When asked if she agreed with the ICC’s decision, Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow told CNN’s Manu Raju: Both were supposed to go. ”
But there are others who agree with Biden.
Senator Sherrod Brown, who is facing a tough re-election campaign in Ohio, criticized the ICC prosecutor, telling CNN, “I don’t believe there is a moral equivalence between the democratic government of Israel and a terrorist organization like Hamas.”
The condemnation of the ICC’s efforts has placed the United States in a delicate position. The United States is supporting a separate effort by the ICC to document and investigate Russian war crimes related to its continued operations in Ukraine.
Kirby said the United States will continue to support these efforts.
“I would like to remind everyone that Mr. Putin’s actual war purpose is to kill innocent Ukrainian citizens,” Kirby told reporters on Monday. “In other words, he is intentionally targeting civilian infrastructure with the intention of killing innocent civilians.
“That’s not what the IDF is doing,” Kirby added.
Still, the U.S. is calling on the Israeli government to “be more discriminatory, more targeted, [and] be more precise in the Gaza operation.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Nikki Carvajal, Haley Talbot, Morgan Rimmer and Kristin Wilson contributed to this report.
