The President of the United States Joe Biden on Monday condemned as outrageous the application of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Karim Khan for arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reports "Reuters".
"Let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor is implying, there is no equality - none - between Israel and 'Hamas.' We will always stand by Israel against threats to its security.", Biden said in his statement.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also criticized the move, raising questions about the court's jurisdiction and its process in making the application. He added that it could jeopardize negotiations to reach a hostage deal and cease-fire.
"Essentially, this decision does nothing to help and could jeopardize ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement that would bring out the hostages and increase humanitarian aid," Blinken said.
Blinken said Israel was ready to cooperate with the court. The prosecutor had planned to visit Israel as early as next week, but announced his charges on television instead.
"These and other circumstances call into question the legitimacy and credibility of this investigation," Blinken said.
We recall that the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galant caused sharp indignation in Israel.
On Monday, Israel's foreign minister said the International Criminal Court prosecutor's request for arrest warrants for Israel's prime minister and defense minister was "outrageous" and is tantamount to an attack on the victims of the October 7 Hamas attack.
Khan requested arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and three leaders of the Palestinian armed group "Hamas" for alleged war crimes. A pretrial panel will assess whether the evidence supports his request.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said he had opened a special department within the Foreign Ministry to counter the ICC prosecutor's decision.
"I intend to speak to the foreign ministers of leading countries around the world to urge them to oppose the prosecutor's decision and to state that even if warrants are issued, they have no intention of using them against Israeli leaders" , Katz said.
"To draw parallels between the leaders of a democratic country determined to defend itself against despicable terror with the leaders of a bloodthirsty terrorist organization is a profound miscarriage of justice and a manifest moral failure" said Benny Gantz, a minister in Netanyahu's cabinet.
According to Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the decision to request arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galant is "a demonstration of hypocrisy and hatred of Jews".
"Arrest warrants against them are arrest warrants against all of us."
In an interview with CNN today, Karim Khan accused Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the October 7 attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.
Additionally, he wants arrest warrants issued for Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant, as well as two other senior Hamas leaders - Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, leader of the Al Qassem Brigades and better known as Mohammed Deif. and Ismail Haniyeh, political leader of "Hamas".
In a statement on the ICC website, Khan said the charges against Sinwar, Haniya and al-Masri included: "extermination, murder, hostage-taking, rape and sexual assault while in custody". Meanwhile, charges against Netanyahu and Gallant include: "causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including denying humanitarian aid supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict.
When reports emerged last month that the ICC's chief prosecutor was considering this course of action, Netanyahu said any ICC arrest warrants against senior Israeli government and military officials would be considered a "scandal of historic proportions" and that Israel "has an independent legal system that rigorously investigates all violations of the law".
Regarding Netanyahu's comments, the chief prosecutor of the ICC is adamant that "no one is above the law". Karim Khan also pointed out that if Israel disagrees with the ICC, "they are free, regardless of their objections to the jurisdiction, to raise a challenge before the judges in court and that is what I advise them to do.