Netanyahu says ICC makes Jewish rights to Biblical Israel a war crime

DECEMBER 22, 2019 12:13

Israel plans to push back against the “absurd” decision by the International Criminal Court to turn the right of Jews to live in Biblical Israel into a war crime while ignoring the human rights abuses of countries like Iran, Syria and Turkey, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the weekly cabinet.

He spoke just two days after ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she believed war crimes had occurred in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem. She plans to open an investigation into human rights abuses by Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem. But first she has asked the pre-trial chamber to rule on the question of whether the ICC can consider Palestine a state for the purposes of adjudicating this issue, and if so, does the ICC have jurisdiction over all the territory in question.

Netanyahu said that with the prosecutor’s decision, the ICC had become ammunition in the political battle against the state of Israel.

There are “three absurd things” here, he said.

The ICC is supposed to the arena where nations can combat serious human rights abuses, that have occurred in countries where the is no legal system, Netanyahu said.

Instead, what has happened here, the ICC accepted a claim by the Palestinians who do not have a state, against the only democracy in the Middle East, over which the ICC has no jurisdiction, Netanyahu said,

Second, the ICC is trying to turn the fact that Jews live in their biblical homeland into a war crime, which goes against historical truth, he said.

Lastly, he said, “who is being accused here, Iran, Syria or Turkey? No, Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East,” he said.

Israel will fight for its right and its historical truth with all the tools it has, Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu thanked US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for the strong statement he issued Friday against the ICC and in support of Israel.

The Prime Minister said he hoped to approve more money for the residents of southern Israel, who have been living under the threat of Gaza rockets and incendiary balloons.