Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized the administration of President Joe Biden for not backing sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the Gaza war. The US has been Israel's main backer in its war on Gaza that has so far killed more than 36,000 Palestinians.
“I’m surprised and disappointed, because I think it’s to the detriment, not only of Israel’s interest, I think … it’s … to the detriment of America’s interest, because Israel may be attacked first by the ICC, but you’re next. America’s really the target,” Netanyahu said in a clip of an interview on SiriusXM’s “The Morgan Ortagus Show,” which is set to air Sunday.
The White House pushed back against a sanctions proposal from Congress on Tuesday, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying the White House does “not believe” sanctions on the international court are “an effective or an appropriate path forward.”
“And … the terrorists who are attacking us, and the mobs who support them in America, they chant, ‘Death to Israel, death to America,’” Netanyahu continued in the interview.
“When that is backed by a rogue prosecutor in the ICC, it’s in America’s interest, for America’s security and for our common values, to sanction the ICC.”
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan made requests for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, earlier this month.
Khan has said Netanyahu and Gallant have criminal responsibility for starvation as a method of war, intentionally targeting civilians, extermination and persecution, alongside other war crimes.
Netanyahu has expressed his displeasure with the ICC prosecutor’s decision to request the warrants multiple times and compared it to charging former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and former United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II.
“I think these charges are exactly as President Biden called ‘em, they’re outrageous,” Netanyahu stated in an interview on CNN’s “The Lead” with anchor Jake Tapper.
“They’re beyond outrageous. This is a rogue prosecutor that has put false charges, and created false symmetries that are both dangerous and false.”
In a forward-looking proposal, Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Mohammad Reza Farzin suggested…
Mohammad Mokhber, Acting President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Chinese President Xi Jinping…
In a powerful display of solidarity, the world's largest Palestinian flag was hoisted atop the…
At least 58 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, bringing…
Iran's Interim President Mohammad Mokhber has stated strategic relations between Tehran and Moscow have changed…
Approximately nine in every 10 people in the Gaza Strip have been displaced at least…