Netanyahu: We Will Not Allow Our Soldiers to Be Taken to the International Criminal Court

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Sunday, January 14, that "the Palestinian Authority has decided to drag Israel into a political war, but we will not allow this." According to AFP, Netanyahu continued, "We will not allow our soldiers and officers of the Israel Defense Forces to be taken to the International Criminal Court in The Hague." Netanyahu was responding to the Palestinian Authority's official request to join the International Criminal Court in The Hague, adding, "We support our soldiers who have defended the country." Palestinian leaders have stated that following the formalization of their membership in the International Criminal Court, they will file a complaint against Israel for "war crimes." One day after the Palestinians submitted a signed charter for membership in the International Criminal Court, a senior Israeli official confirmed that Israel has blocked $127 million of Palestinian funds. The Haaretz newspaper reported on Saturday, January 13, that the Netanyahu government is blocking Palestinian tax revenues in response to the Palestinians' request to join the International Criminal Court. This is not the first time Israel has blocked tax revenues from Palestinian traders that should be transferred to the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords; in previous cases, following international pressure, Israel had eventually reversed its decision. Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian official, stated that the new punitive decisions of the Israeli government are another act of "banditry" and "war crimes" by Israel, but "the Palestinians will not surrender." In other remarks, Netanyahu recently described the Palestinians' request for membership in the Hague as "mysterious" and stated that "Palestine is not a country but a entity dependent on a terrorist organization."