US President Joe Biden has rejected accusations against the Israeli leadership that they are committing genocide against Palestinians in the fight against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“Contrary to the International Court of Justice’s allegations against Israel, this is not genocide,” Biden said on Monday (local time) in the Rose Garden of the White House at a celebration of the achievements of American Jews in the USA. “We reject that. We stand with Israel.” The US government had previously made similar statements.
South Africa had repeatedly called on the International Court of Justice to take action against Israel and accused the country of genocide. The UN judges made emergency decisions requiring Israel to do everything possible to prevent genocide and allow humanitarian aid.
Joe Biden speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House to mark Jewish American Heritage Month
Source: AFP/ALMOND NGAN
On Monday, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) also requested an arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Joav Galant. Arrest warrants were also requested against the leader of the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Jihia al-Sinwar, and other Hamas representatives.
Biden reiterated that the US government rejects the actions of the ICC chief prosecutor. There is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas, said the US President.
Biden also indirectly addressed the withholding of a US munitions shipment because of Israel’s actions in the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip – he said: “Let me be clear: I will always ensure that Israel has everything it needs to defend itself against To defend Hamas and all other enemies.”
Biden also emphasized: “My commitment to the security of the Jewish people, to the security of Israel and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is unwavering.” The US government continues to advocate for a two-state solution, security and lasting peace bring.
Netanyahu calls allegations “absurd”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a similar statement on Monday. The fact that arrest warrants for high-ranking Israeli officials were requested along with arrest warrants for Hamas terrorists was “shameful.” “We reject the prosecution’s identification of Israel with Hamas,” Blinken said. “Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that carried out the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and still holds dozens of innocent people hostage, including Americans.”
Blinken also made it clear that the US government believes that the court, which is not recognized by the US, does not have jurisdiction in this case. Although Israel is not a member of the ICC, it was willing to cooperate with the prosecution, the US Secretary of State emphasized. But “troubling procedural issues” called into question the legitimacy and credibility of the investigation. Blinken further stated that the chief prosecutor’s actions could even jeopardize ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement.
Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor at the ICC, had previously requested arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Galant and Hamas leaders Jehia Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniya. He said on Monday that he believed they were all responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel in connection with the more than seven-month Gaza war.
Israel sharply criticized the applications. Head of Government Netanyahu described it as absurd and accused the prosecution of anti-Semitism. “As Prime Minister of Israel, I reject with disgust the Hague prosecutor’s comparison between democratic Israel and the mass murders of Hamas,” he said. “No pressure or decision in any international forum will stop us from meeting those who want to destroy us.” The proposals are an attack on the Israeli military and all of Israel. Netanyahu assured that Israel would continue the war against Hamas.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz spoke on Monday of a “scandalous decision”. It represents “a frontal, unrestrained attack on the victims of October 7 and our 128 hostages in Gaza”. “While the murderers and rapists of Hamas are committing crimes against humanity against our brothers and sisters, the chief prosecutor mentions our prime minister and defense minister alongside the despicable Nazi monsters of Hamas – a historic disgrace that will be remembered forever,” Katz said, according to his office.
He ordered the immediate establishment of a situation center in the Foreign Ministry, where specialists would fight against the decision, the main aim of which was “to tie the hands of the State of Israel and deny it the right to self-defense.” He wanted to speak to the foreign ministers of leading states so that they could object to the chief prosecutor’s decision “and announce that even in the case of arrest warrants, they will not implement them against the leaders of the State of Israel.”
Israeli President Itzchak Herzog rejected the request as “more than outrageous.” Any attempt to draw parallels between Hamas terrorists and Israel’s democratically elected government cannot be accepted, Herzog said. “We will not forget who started this war and who raped, slaughtered, burned, mistreated and kidnapped innocent citizens and families,” said Herzog, referring to the Gaza war. “We expect all leaders of the free world to condemn and resolutely reject this move.”
“A crime of historic proportions”
Benny Gantz, a former military chief and current War Cabinet member, sharply criticized Khan’s announcement, saying Israel contends with “one of the strictest” moral codes and has a robust judiciary capable of investigating itself. After a massacre committed by Hamas, Israel is waging “one of the just wars in modern history.” “The prosecutor’s stance in seeking arrest warrants is itself a crime of historic proportions that will be remembered for generations to come,” Gantz said.
The opposition in Israel also condemned the proposal. Opposition leader Jair Lapid spoke of a “complete moral failure”. The former prime minister wrote on X: “We cannot accept the outrageous comparison between Netanyahu and Sinwar, between the leaders of Israel and the leaders of Hamas.”
Opposition politician Merav Michaeli called Khan’s decision a “scandal that the State of Israel cannot and will not accept.” Israel’s leadership “could not be put in the same category as a nefarious, cruel terrorist organization.” At the same time, the leader of the Social Democratic Labor Party said Israel had reached an unprecedented and dangerous low under Netanyahu’s leadership. “It is dangerous for Israel’s national security, for ensuring the existence of the State of Israel.” She demanded: “Netanyahu’s destructive farce must end immediately.”
Hamas, for its part, criticized the chief prosecutor’s requests for arrest warrants against its leaders. “His decision compares the victim to an executioner and encourages the occupation to continue the genocidal war,” said a statement carried by the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV channel. The terrorist organization criticized the fact that only two arrest warrants were requested against Israeli politicians.