The Israeli government warned the administration of US President Joe Biden that it would take retaliatory measures that would lead to the collapse of the Palestinian Authority if the International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants against Israeli leaders.
Axios explained that Israeli officials have become increasingly concerned over the past two weeks that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces Herzi Halevy.
The International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, Netherlands, has been investigating possible war crimes committed by Israeli forces dating back to the war between Israel and Hamas in 2014.
That investigation has been expanded to include the October 7 attacks and the ongoing war in Gaza since then, according to the prosecutor’s office.
According to the website, over the past few weeks, Israel has informed the United States that it has information indicating that Palestinian Authority officials are pressuring the ICC prosecutor to issue arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, two Israeli officials said.
American and Israeli officials were quoted as saying that Israel informed the Biden administration that if arrest warrants were issued, it would consider the Palestinian Authority responsible and would retaliate with strong action that could lead to its collapse.
Among the possible measures is freezing the transfer of tax revenues collected by Israel to the Palestinian Authority. Without these funds, the Palestinian Authority would be bankrupt.
Real threat
A senior Israeli official told Axios that the threat of ICC arrest warrants is real, and stressed that if such a scenario occurred, the Israeli government would likely make a formal decision to punish the Palestinian Authority, which could lead to its collapse.
The issue of potential arrest warrants issued by the ICC was raised during a phone call between Netanyahu and President Biden last Sunday, in which Netanyahu asked the US president for help, Axios reported earlier this week.
Two American officials said that Biden told Netanyahu during the call that the report broadcast by Channel 12 in Israel, which indicated that the United States may have given the “green light” to the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, is incorrect.
Washington opposes the ICC investigation
Biden stressed during the call that the United States opposes the International Criminal Court investigation against Israel.
Two US officials said that the Biden administration had privately told ICC officials that arrest warrants against Israeli leaders would be a mistake and that the United States did not support the measure.
A US official said: “We are quietly encouraging the ICC not to do this. It will blow everything up, and Israel will take revenge on the Palestinian Authority.”
The official added that although there is pressure on the ICC prosecutor to issue these arrest warrants, the Biden administration does not believe this step is as imminent as the Israelis believe.
White House spokesman John Kirby was also asked, on Tuesday, during a press conference about Republican lawmakers’ threats to issue legislation against the International Criminal Court. Kirby said that the United States opposes the ICC’s investigation against Israel, but stressed that it also opposes threats and intimidation against the court’s judges. .
Israeli officials were concerned by Kirby’s statements and asked the White House whether this represented a change in the American position, but the White House said that there had been no change.
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