President Joe Biden forcefully denounced the International Criminal Court’s “outrageous” arrest warrant application against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense minister Yoav Gallant on Monday.
“Let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas,” Biden said in a brief statement. “We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
Earlier Monday, ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan announced his intention to apply for an arrest warrant for the two Israeli leaders, as well as a separate warrant for three Hamas officials. Khan seeks to hold both sides accountable for their alleged war crimes — Israel for its ongoing military campaign in Gaza, and Hamas for its October 7 attack.
The decision comes weeks after the international tribunal, located in The Hague, Netherlands, threatened to issue warrants for Netanyahu. This marks the first time that the ICC has targeted the top leader of a key U.S. ally.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered a longer statement on behalf of the Biden administration, saying Khan’s “equivalence of Israel with Hamas . . . is shameful.”
“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 said.
The U.S. cabinet official added that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Israel-Hamas war, as the international tribunal “was established by its state parties as a court of limited jurisdiction.” Blinken also raised concerns regarding Khan’s upcoming trip to Israel, which would have been coordinated by his staff when they landed in Israel on Monday. Khan’s trip was expected to occur as early as next week, according to Blinken’s statement.
“Fundamentally, this decision 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 the United States continues to pursue relentlessly,” he concluded.
The charges against Netanyahu and Gallant include “causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict,” according to Khan.
Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, and Ismail Haniyeh also face several charges, including “extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape and sexual assault in detention,” Khan said, referring to Hamas’s October 7 attack.
Hours prior to the Biden administration’s statements, both Israel and Hamas likewise condemned the arrest warrants sought against their most senior leaders.
The ICC is also facing bipartisan pushback from Congress. Republican lawmakers are particularly upset over the move, threatening to pass legislation that could impose sanctions on the court’s officials involved in the prosecution of Israel. Pro-Israel Democrats, including House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) also opposed the arrest warrants, reaffirming their collective commitment to Israel amid its war with Hamas. Neither the U.S. nor Israel are members of the court.
Some progressive lawmakers such as Representative Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.), however, praised the ICC’s decision in keeping Israel accountable for its wartime actions. In a statement, Omar described Khan’s allegations as “significant” and said the ICC “must be allowed to conduct its work independently and without interference.”