Soon after the International Criminal Court passed the order to probe the war crimes committed by Palestinians and Israelis in the Palestine territory occupied by Israel, the United States stepped up to express its “firm” opposition to the investigation.
The Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said on Thursday that the US “firmly opposes and is deeply disappointed” with the ICC’s decision to open an investigation probing the war crimes.
This was following the announcement made on Wednesday which resulted after an evaluation by the ICC that the occupied region of Palestine comes under its jurisdiction, calling for their involvement.
However, this did not go well with the US that has always been vocal about its support to Israel. In a statement, Blinken slammed the ICC and opposed the matter. “The ICC has no jurisdiction over this matter. Israel is not a party to the ICC and has not consented to the Court’s jurisdiction, and we have serious concerns about the ICC’s attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel,” he said while further stating that Palestine isn’t a “sovereign state” at all.
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“The Palestinians do not qualify as a sovereign state and therefore, are not qualified to obtain membership as a state in, participate as a state in, or delegate jurisdiction to the ICC,” he added.
According to the UN-approved resolution of 2012, Palestine’s territorial status was changed from “an observer entity” to “a non-member observer state”, paving the way for the ICC to declare its jurisdiction rule.
Speaking about the US’s aid to Israel and its undying support, Blinken said that the nation “will continue to uphold our strong commitment to Israel and its security, including by opposing actions that seek to target Israel unfairly”.
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This statement was in line with Israel which immediately called out the ICC’s probe as it was termed as “the essence of anti-Semitism” by its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On the other hand, Palestine has welcomed the ICC’s announcement and said that it is “a long-awaited step that serves Palestine’s tireless pursuit of justice and accountability, which are indispensable pillars of the peace the Palestinian people seek and deserve”.
Though he defended its activities on the war crimes front, Hamas appreciated the inquiry decision.
ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said that the investigation relating to the “situation in Palestine” will be held “independently, impartially and objectively, without fear or favour”. However, no other details have been disclosed as of now.
This opposition from the US comes as Washington faces extreme pressure to lift the sanctions placed on Bensouda and the other staff members of the ICC made by Trump.
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Reportedly, Netanyahu had pressured Biden during their first telephonic conversation, after Biden came to power, to stay the sanctions after the ICC announced that Palestine falls under their jurisdiction last month.
Trump had placed the sanctions during a time when the ICC had said that it’ll be investigating the situation in Afghanistan including a probe into the US’s abuses committed in the nation. Since Biden took the White House, however, the US said that it is reviewing the sanctions. Notably, the United States is not a member of the Rome Statute which is the governing and foundational treaty of ICC.
During the Obama era, the then-president had taken a “positive engagement” policy to support the ICC probes on an ad hoc basis, unlike Trump who made a negative impact.
With the Biden administration promoting the importance and protection of human rights and a multilateral approach towards foreign policies, the globe believed he would take a similar stance and lift the Trump-imposed sanctions too but the unexpected delay has left all questioning the motives of the administration and the change of track from his former boss, Obama’s, actions.
