But Israel has since received public support from its main ally, the United States months of mounting tension between the two countries.
Biden faced criticism from some human rights advocates for his quick condemnation of the move to seek an arrest warrant, calling it “extraordinary” and suggesting a false “equivalence” between Israel and Hamas.
Later in the day, in a speech at the Rose Garden marking Jewish American Heritage Month, he said Israel “wants to do everything it can to provide civilian protection” and that “what is happening is not genocide.”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was not alone in rejecting the US ICC attorney general’s move, saying it was “not useful for getting a pause in the fighting, removing hostages or providing humanitarian aid”.
According to the German newspaper “Deutsche Welle”, Germany has expressed some concerns about the decision to file “simultaneous applications” for arrest warrants, particularly for Israel and Hamas. informed. But in the end, the US ally said it respects the independence of the court.
‘Can’t have it both ways’
Human rights advocates criticized Biden’s suggestion that the ICC’s announcement was the same. Israel with HamasWhile some have accused the US of double standards, given Washington’s staunch support for the ICC the decision to issue an arrest warrant For the President of Russia Vladimir Putin For alleged war crimes in the war in Ukraine.
“Biden’s response was very disappointing,” Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, said in a telephone interview with NBC News on Tuesday. There was nothing “at all” “unusual” about Khan’s decision to apply for arrest warrants, he said.
Rejecting Biden’s suggestion that the ICC attorney general was implying “equivalence between Israel and Hamas,” he said Khan had done no such thing. He simply accused both sides of their separate crimes. “If only he had ignored the crime of one party.”
“These accusations are not about Israel’s right to defend itself, which no one has questioned. They are about how Israel chooses to defend itself and that no reason, no matter how just, can be used as an excuse to commit war crimes,” Roth said. he said.