United States President Joe Biden has defended Israel against war crimes charges in the world’s top courts.
Biden’s remarks came after Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), said he was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes committed during the war in Gaza.
“There is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas,” Biden added. Hours earlier, he issued a strongly worded statement saying that the ICC warrants were “outrageous”.
Israel is also facing a separate case on alleged genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which South Africa brought.
Biden said that Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza.
“Contrary to allegations against Israel made by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), what’s happening in Gaza is not genocide. We reject that,” Biden said in his speech.
President Biden received $4,261,010 from pro-Israel special interest groups when he was a US Senator.
Since October 7, the Biden administration has reportedly made more than one hundred military aid transfers to Israel, although only two—totalling about $250 million—have met the aforementioned congressional review threshold and been made public.
Since Israel’s founding in 1948, it has received $158 billion of US tax dollars in military aid from the United States, making it the most greatest recipient in history.
In January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to take several provisional measures in response to a case brought by South Africa alleging Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The measures aim to protect Palestinians from further harm while the case proceeds.
However, on March 26, a United Nations expert told the global body’s Human Rights Council that she believed that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza since Oct. 7 amounted to genocide and called on countries to impose sanctions and an arms embargo immediately.
“It is my solemn duty to report on the worst of what humanity is capable of and to present my findings,” Francesca Albanese, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Territories, told the U.N. rights body in Geneva, presenting a report called “The Anatomy of a Genocide”.
France has expressed its support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its commitment to fighting impunity, according to a statement from its foreign ministry. The statement comes after the ICC prosecutor requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes.
The foreign ministry reiterated its condemnation of Hamas’s “anti-Semitic massacres” on October 7 and warned of possible violations of international humanitarian law by Israel during its invasion of the Gaza Strip.
The ministry clarified that the decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials will be made by the ICC’s pre-trial chamber after examining the evidence presented by the prosecutor.
In an address to the National Assembly, Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne emphasized that the simultaneous warrant requests should not be interpreted as establishing an equivalence between Hamas and Israel. He stated that Hamas is a terrorist group that celebrated the October 7 attacks, while Israel is a democracy that must adhere to international law while engaged in a war it did not initiate.
Which countries have welcomed South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel?
- The Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC): The 57-member bloc, which includes Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan and Morocco, voiced their support for the case on December 30.
- Malaysia: In a statement released on January 2, the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the South African application. It reiterated a call for an independent Palestinian state “based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital”.
- Turkey: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Oncu Keceli posted on X on January 3 welcoming South Africa’s move.
- Jordan: Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on January 4 that Amman would back South Africa.
- Bolivia: On Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bolivia dubbed South Africa’s move as historic, becoming the first Latin American country to back the ICJ case against Israel.
- The Maldives, Namibia and Pakistan: The three countries expressed support for the genocide case filed by South Africa during a UN General Assembly session on Tuesday.
- The Arab League: The 22-member alliance also affirmed its support for the South African case on Wednesday in an X post made by Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit.
- Colombia and Brazil: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia and Brazil expressed the country’s support in individual press releases on Wednesday.
- Besides countries, many advocacy groups and civil society groups worldwide have also joined South Africa’s call. These include Terreiro Pindorama in Brazil, Asociacion Nacional de Amistad Italia-Cuba in Italy, and Collectif Judeo Arabe et Citoyen pour la Palestine in France, reported independent outlet Common Dreams.
