United States President Joe Biden has defended Israel against war crimes charges in the world’s top courts.
Biden’s remarks came after Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), announced he was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes committed during the war in Gaza.
“Let me be clear, we reject the ICC’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders,” Biden stated at a Jewish American Heritage Month event at the White House on Monday, the same day Khan made the announcement. “There is no equivalence between Israel and Hamas,” Biden emphasized.
Prior to this, he had issued a strongly-worded statement denouncing the ICC warrants as “outrageous”.
Israel is also facing a separate case on alleged genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), initiated by South Africa.
Biden refuted the genocide allegations against Israel, stating, “Contrary to the ICJ’s claims, what’s happening in Gaza is not genocide. We reject that.”