Strong Opposition from the U.S. to ICC Criminal Investigations Regarding Israel

On Friday, January 26, the United States strongly opposed the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to open a preliminary investigation into allegations against Israel regarding 'war crimes' in Palestinian territories. Fatou Bensouda, the ICC prosecutor, announced in a statement that 'impartial and independent' investigations would be conducted regarding the allegations, which cover the period since June of last year. Last summer, areas of Israel were targeted by rocket fire from Palestinian militants in Gaza, while the region itself also faced air and ground attacks from the Israeli army. U.S. State Department spokesperson Jeff Rathke stated that Washington is 'strongly opposed' to the opening of this preliminary case. He said, 'It is a tragic inversion that Israel, which has been the target of thousands of terrorist rocket attacks against its citizens and neighboring areas, is now the subject of investigations by the ICC.' This case is opened after Riyad Mansour, the representative of the Palestinian Authority at the United Nations, presented documents for the Palestinians' accession to the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands, at the beginning of 2015. Following this request, on January 7, the UN Secretary-General announced his agreement. Fatou Bensouda stated that after the initial investigations, it will be determined whether a case will be opened to examine war crimes. Before the opening of this preliminary case, Human Rights Watch had suggested in a report last September that Israel may have committed 'war crimes' during the Gaza battles. On the other hand, senior Israeli officials condemned this preliminary case; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the Paris attacks, in which four French Jews were killed, calling the investigation against Tel Aviv 'scandalous.' Avigdor Lieberman, the country's foreign minister, described the ICC's actions as influenced by 'anti-Israeli political considerations.' During the Gaza battles last summer, nearly 2,200 Palestinians, most of whom were civilians, were killed. On the Israeli side, 73 people, most of whom were soldiers, lost their lives.