Falcon powers – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was surprised that the White House will not support imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) that is seeking to issue an arrest warrant against him.
The Hebrew Channel 13 reported that the Prime Minister expressed “his surprise and disappointment” during an interview with the “Morgan Ortagus Show” program that will be broadcast in full in the United States on Sunday, that the Biden administration may oppose imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court in response to the request to issue arrest warrants against him and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Netanyahu’s statements come against the backdrop of the White House’s announcement on Wednesday that it will not support Republican efforts in Congress to push for sanctions against the Hague court, a position that contradicts what Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week, when he described the decision of the Hague prosecutor as “completely wrong” and announced that the White House will work with Congress to strengthen sanctions.
Netanyahu told Ortagus, a former State Department spokeswoman during the Trump administration, that “the United States has announced that it will support the proposal to impose sanctions.”
He added: “I thought this was still the American position, because there was a consensus between the two parties on this issue just a few days ago… and now there is a question mark about the matter, and frankly I am surprised and disappointed.”
The Prime Minister defended himself against the accusations made against him regarding preventing aid from entering Gaza and the Israeli military’s targeting of civilians in the Strip.
The Politico website noted that Netanyahu’s words are “an additional factor in deepening the rift between the leaders of both Israel and the United States.”
