Biden, Blinken Slam ‘Outrageous’ ICC Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu: ‘We Will Always Stand With Israel’
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken released statements on Monday “fundamentally” rejecting the announcement from the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) about arrest warrants for top Israeli officials along with Hamas terrorists.
“We reject the Prosecutor’s equivalence of Israel with Hamas,” Blinken wrote.
Blinken called the arrest warrant announcement “shameful” for equating Israel and Hamas.
“Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that carried out the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and is still holding dozens of innocent people hostage, including Americans,” Blinken wrote.
In the president’s statement, he echoed the point about creating a dangerous “equivalence” between Israel and Hamas.
“The ICC prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous,” Biden wrote. “And let me be clear: there is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats against its security.”
Blinken said the ICC has “no jurisdiction over this matter.”
“Fundamentally, this does nothing to help, and could jeopardize, ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement that would get hostages out and surge humanitarian assistance in, which are the goals of the United States continues to pursue relentlessly,” he wrote.
JUST IN!! Blinken statement on ICC arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials, together with warrants for Hamas terrorists. 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/Nvy8kGWrXo
— Alex Raufoglu (@ralakbar) May 20, 2024
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan told CNN on Monday that he is seeking arrest warrants to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar on charges of war crimes, citing their strikes against Gaza, which have led to thousands of civilian deaths.
Khan is also seeking warrants for Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as other top Hamas officials.
The attacks are a response to Hamas attacking Israel on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,000 and kidnapping hundreds more. Netanyahu said the attacks on Gaza will not stop until Hamas is completely eliminated.
