Israel is currently facing mounting pressure from worldwide protests and the International Criminal Court’s ongoing investigation to end the hostilities in Gaza and the West Bank. As a result, the current Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, is growing increasingly concerned about the ICC possibly issuing an international warrant for his arrest.
Did the United States finally throw Israel, its long-time partner in crime, under the bus, or will it try again to influence the ICC’s decision-making process and investigations as it did back in 2020? Then ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda faced U.S. sanctions over his decision to open an investigation into the alleged atrocities committed by the U.S. troops while stationed in Afghanistan.
The U.S. government criticized this decision, and Bensouda and her colleague, Phakiso Mochochoko, were placed on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. The move was quite an extreme measure, as the list targets individuals and companies deemed designated terrorists, officials of authoritarian regimes, and international criminals. The move indicates that the U.S. government is willing to go to great lengths to cover up the U.S. and its allies’ criminal activities. However, ICC officials were later removed from the list due to being inappropriate and ineffective.
As Israel faces mounting evidence, there is little room for concealment. Not even the U.S. can hide the atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank. In its internal investigation, some U.S. officials have told Secretary of State Blinken that they don’t believe Israel’s assurances about using US-supplied weapons in line with international humanitarian law, according to a memo reviewed by Reuters.
