President Biden on Monday condemned the decision by the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor to seek arrest warrants for two top Israeli officials — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant — when he issued warrants for the leaders of Hamas, saying in a White House statement that “whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas.”Mr. Biden’s decision to stand firmly behind Mr. Netanyahu was echoed by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, who called the move by the prosecutor, Karim Khan, “shameful” in a statement that said the United States rejected his “equivalence of Israel with Hamas.”Mr. Blinken accused Mr. Khan of going “on cable television to announce the charges” even as his staff canceled a planned visit to Israel to discuss the I.C.C.’s inquiry into Israel’s conduct of the war.
“These and other circumstances call into question the legitimacy and credibility of this investigation,” he said.
“It is shameful,” Mr. Blinken said of the prosecutor’s decision to issue warrants for leaders of both sides in the conflict, implying their equivalence.
“Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that carried out the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and is still holding dozens of innocent people hostage, including Americans.
This decision does nothing to help, and could jeopardize, ongoing efforts to reach a cease-fire agreement that would get hostages out and surge humanitarian assistance in.”
Persons:
Biden, Court’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant —, ” Mr, Netanyahu, Antony J, Blinken, Karim Khan, Mr, Khan, ”
Organizations:
—, Hamas
Locations:
Israel, United States