Israel learned about the possible ICC arrest warrants just as Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan went on CNN to announce them, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday as he panned the move.
“There are deeply troubling process questions,” Blinken said in an unusual public statement against the court’s targeting of both Hamas and Israeli leaders.
US President Joe Biden called the issue of arrest warrants “outrageous” and stressed “there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas.
“We stand with Israel against threats to its security,” Biden stated.
The US was particularly perturbed about Khan’s use of CNN to announce court business.
“It’s an unusual thing for a prosecutor to make an initial arrest announcement on television, not in a public document,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington.
Neither Israel nor the United States is a party to the Rome Statute that governs the court and does not believe that it has jurisdiction on issues relating to the Gaza war.
Still, Blinken pointed out, “Israel was prepared to cooperate with the prosecutor.
“In fact, the prosecutor himself was scheduled to visit Israel as early as next week to discuss the investigation and hear from the Israeli government,” Blinken said.
“The prosecutor’s staff was supposed to land in Israel today to coordinate the visit. Israel was informed that they did not board their flight around the same time that the prosecutor went on cable television to announce the charges.
Blinken questions legitimacy of the investigation
“These and other circumstances call into question the legitimacy and credibility of this investigation,” Blinken said.
“The ICC was established by its state parties as a court of limited jurisdiction. Those limits are rooted in principles of complementarity, which do not appear to have been applied here,” Blinken said.
He accused Khan of rushing to seek arrest warrants rather than “allowing the Israeli legal system a full and timely opportunity to proceed,” as it has done in other situations.
“The prosecutor did not afford the same opportunity to Israel, which has ongoing investigations into allegations against its personnel,” Blinken said.
He warned that Khan’s action could “jeopardize ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement” between Israel and Hamas that would see the release of the remaining 128 hostages.
The ICC told The Jerusalem Post, “As noted by Prosecutor Khan in his interview, the Office has sought to, and will continue to seek to, engage with Israel and all States in its work. The Prosecutor has undertaken three years of such engagement to improve dialogue with Israel and seek to obtain information relevant to our investigations.”
“Despite significant efforts, the Office has not received any information that has demonstrated genuine action at the domestic level to address the crimes alleged or the individuals under investigation. The Prosecutor has also repeatedly underlined his concerns regarding the adherence of Israel to international humanitarian law and has emphasized publicly that he has not seen any discernible change in conduct despite his earlier statements.”
Further, the ICC said, “The Office will continue its engagement with Israel and all relevant States in relation to this investigation. The Prosecutor has underlined that the assessment of complementarity will be ongoing, as in all situations before the Court.”
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he would speak with his counterparts from leading countries and urge them to oppose the warrants.
Great Britain, the Czech Republic, and Austria immediately spoke out against the issue of equivalency.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said it was “appalling and completely unacceptable” to do so.
“We must not forget that it was Hamas that attacked Israel in October and killed, injured, and kidnapped thousands of innocent people. It was this completely unprovoked terrorist attack that led to the current war in Gaza and the suffering of civilians in Gaza, Israel, and Lebanon,” he said.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said, “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.”
A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated this action does not help the goal of “pausing the fighting, getting hostages out or getting humanitarian aid in” as he rejected the court’s jurisdiction in the matter.
South Africa, which has brought Israel before the International Court of Justice on genocide changes, “welcomed the decision. ”The law must be applied equally to all in order to uphold the international rule of law, ensure accountability for those that commit heinous crimes, and protect the rights of victims.”
Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee member Waswel Abu Youssef said, “The Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves... The ICC is required to issue arrest warrants
Reuters contributed to this report.