The Prime Minister’s Office announced Israel’s intention on Wednesday to appeal to the International Criminal Court in The Hague against its decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and to demand a delay in the implementation of those warrants.
Israel’s notice of appeal shows in detail the degree to which the ICC decision to issue the arrest warrants is “baseless and without any factual or legal foundation whatsoever,” the PMO said in a statement.
“Should the ICC reject the appeal, this will underscore to Israel’s friends in the United States and around the world how biased the ICC is against the State of Israel,” the PMO said.
In a meeting between Netanyahu and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in Jerusalem on Wednesday, the senator updated the Israeli premier on efforts he is advancing in Congress against the ICC and countries that have cooperated with it.
Graham has threatened to sanction America’s allies if they enforce the ICC’s arrest warrants against the two Israeli leaders.
“To any ally—Canada, Britain, Germany, France—if you try to help the ICC, we’re going to sanction you,” Graham told Fox News on Nov. 23.
On Nov. 21, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber issued warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas terrorist Mohammed Deif, even though he has been reported dead by both Israel and Hamas. The Israel Defense Forces had confirmed on Aug. 1 that Deif died in an Israeli airstrike on July 13.
More than 120 countries are signatories to the Rome Statute, the 2002 treaty that established the ICC, requiring them to act on the court’s warrants.
France announced on Wednesday, however, that states such as Israel, which are not signatories to the Rome Statute, may have immunity.
(JNS)