Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Saturday responded to the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to investigate Israel for alleged "war crimes."
In a statement, Netanyahu said: "When the ICC investigates Israel for fake war crimes – this is pure anti-Semitism. The court established to prevent atrocities like the Nazi Holocaust against the Jewish people is now targeting the one state of the Jewish people."
"First, the ICC outrageously claims that when Jews live in our homeland, this is a war crime. Second, it claims that when democratic Israel defends itself against terrorists who murder our children and rocket our cities - we are committing another war crime.
"Yet the ICC refuses to investigate brutal dictatorships like Iran and Syria, who commit horrific atrocities almost daily.
"As Prime Minister of Israel, I can assure you this: We will fight this perversion of justice with all our might!" he concluded.
The US on Friday expressed concern over the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) ruling that it that it has jurisdiction over Judea, Samaria, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem, paving the way for a war crimes probe against Israel.
“We are reviewing the ICC decision on Palestine and we have concerns about the ICC taking steps against Israeli personnel,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price.
“We share the goals of the ICC but we always believed its jurisdiction should only apply for countries who agree for it or as a result of a UN Security Council decision,” he added.
Earlier, a three-panel judge at the ICC ruled that Judea, Samaria, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem are within the jurisdiction of the court.
In a press release, the ICC said that the judges ruled that "the Court's territorial jurisdiction in the Situation in Palestine, a State party to the ICC Rome Statute, extends to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”
The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, announced in late 2019 that she intends to open a full investigation into alleged Israeli “war crimes”, but before opening a full probe, asked the ICC to rule on the territory over which it has jurisdiction because of the "unique and highly contested legal and factual issues attaching to this situation."
She subsequently ruled that “Palestine” is a state and the ICC has jurisdiction involving its cases.
The Trump administration slapped sanctions on ICC officials and had cited both their probe into US military personnel in Afghanistan as well as their efforts investigate Israel.
The Biden administration, however, has already announced plans to “thoroughly review” the sanctions that were imposed on the ICC by Trump.
THANKS SO MUCH,, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO US IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMESֱ
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