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Israel looks to Biden for help blocking world court’s ‘war crimes’ charges

The U.S. shares Israel’s view of the International Criminal Court as a platform for anti-Israel/anti-U.S. activism.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel is expected to seek cooperation from the new administration of President Joe Biden in blocking the International Criminal Court’s ongoing anti-Israel actions, Israel Hayom reported Sunday.

The first step will be to request in the coming weeks that the White House give its support in the selection process of the new chief prosecutor for the court located in the Dutch city of The Hague.

The outgoing Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, Fatou Bensouda, is leaving next month after nine years on the job marked by questionable rulings accusing both Israel and United States of war crimes, despite neither country being a signatory to the treaty that set up the court and thus not subject to its jurisdiction.

During the Trump administration, Bensouda and the ICC were the target of American sanctions following her decision to investigate both countries for war crimes. Trump’s executive order imposing the sanctions stated the move was also aimed at protecting Israel.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Bensouda and another court official were sanctioned over the court’s “illegitimate attempts to subject Americans to its jurisdiction.”

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Biden was vice president during the Obama administration, when the U.S. refused to join the court because of the threats to prosecute members of the American armed forces.

Unlike her predecessors at the ICC who largely investigated war crimes in the developing world, Bensouda has said all crimes against humanity must be investigated and has looked into war crimes allegedly perpetrated by American and British soldiers.

One observer describes the court as nothing more than another tool in the anti-Israel crusade by the Palestinians.

“The ICC is an extension of the Palestinian leadership political-warfare strategy,” said Dan Diker of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. “It is a tool of war. Period.”

Despite the Palestinians not being a full member of the United Nations, a necessary qualification to join the court, Bensouda ruled that the Palestinians had standing, while at the same time rejecting all claims informally submitted by Israel, the report said.

The Biden administration has not yet commented on what its policy will be towards the ICC.