Hours after US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with officials in Jerusalem, the International Criminal Court announced that it was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, sharpening political divisions. American politicians are even more outraged.
President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson have condemned ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan’s statement that he is seeking warrants for war crimes charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders.
Biden said it was “outrageous” to equate the actions of Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant with those of Hamas leaders.
“Let me be clear: no matter what this prosecutor says, there is no equal relationship between Israel and Hamas. We will always support Israel against threats to its security.”
But the ICC’s move leaves the Biden administration with domestic and diplomatic challenges.
The president’s passionate defense of Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatens to exacerbate divisions over the Gaza war within the Democratic Party as it prepares for a tough election campaign.
Meanwhile, retaliation against the ICC could undermine U.S. efforts to establish itself as a mediator in negotiations to end the conflict and further undermine its standing among many countries in the so-called Global South. .
Earlier this month, Biden announced that the United States was holding up cargo shipments over the Israeli government’s plan to launch an offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where as many as 1 million Palestinians seek refuge. , showed signs of distancing himself from the Israeli prime minister. Bombs will be dropped in the event of an invasion.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went ahead anyway and launched an offensive into eastern Rafah, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to move again in an operation that the United States said was limited in scope.
The U.S. State Department also released a report to Congress finding that Israel may have used American weapons in a manner that violated international humanitarian law, although it did not result in formal charges.
In a sign of left-wing opposition to Mr. Biden’s stance on the conflict sparked by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., announced Monday that ICC prosecutors He praised the government’s decision.
Sanders said that Prime Minister Netanyahu had “waged an unprecedented war of destruction against the entire Palestinian people, leaving more than 5% of the population dead or injured.”
“The ICC Prosecutor is right to take these actions. These arrest warrants may or may not be executed, but it is essential that the international community abides by international law,” he added. Ta.
Meanwhile, more centrist Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, criticized the ICC’s move as “grossly unfair” and “reprehensible.”
Just over two months ago, Prime Minister Schumer criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu in a speech on the Senate floor, saying that the Israeli leader’s actions in the war had weakened the country’s “political and moral foundations,” and that Prime Minister Netanyahu had called for “peace.” “Persons with disabilities.”
The United States has long had a fraught relationship with the ICC. The tribunal is not a member of the tribunal and has historically sought to distance itself from it, fearing it could become the subject of investigation for its actions in conflicts such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
But Washington put itself in an awkward position by backing the ICC’s investigation into Russian President Vladimir Putin after he invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Until Monday’s announcement of the arrest warrant request, the United States had made cautious comments about the ICC’s investigation into the Israel-Hamas war, saying only that the court did not have jurisdiction over the case.
The government’s position is currently hardening. Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a lengthy statement condemning the ICC move, saying it could undermine U.S. efforts to end the war.
Blinken said: “This decision will not help and could jeopardize continued efforts to reach a cease-fire agreement to rescue hostages and expand humanitarian assistance, goals that the United States continues to pursue relentlessly.” There is a gender,” he said.
But the U.S. needs to “tread very carefully” with the ICC, said David Schaeffer, who was the U.S. special envoy for war crimes during the Clinton administration and is now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank. I warned you.
He said a retaliatory response by Washington before the Pre-Trial Chamber judges have had a chance to consider the application could backfire and expose the United States to accusations of double standards.
“We strongly encourage investigations and prosecutions regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the atrocities committed there, but then we reverse course and try to make a completely different case regarding Israel and Gaza. “It’s completely useless in terms of our impact on the overall situation,” he said.
Republicans agreed with Biden’s statement that the actions of Hamas leaders should not be equated with those of Israeli officials, but used the ICC announcement as an opportunity to slam the president, who has criticized Netanyahu’s war effort. It was used as a.
“It is clear that the Biden administration’s pressure campaign against Israel and the State Department’s outlandish investigation hastened the ICC’s decision,” Johnson said.
“Given a lack of leadership from the White House, Congress is considering all options, including sanctions, to punish the ICC and ensure that its leadership faces consequences if they proceed.”
