May 20, 2024, New York, NY – The American Jewish Congress condemns in the strongest possible terms the request by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan for judges to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
This is a grave moment for the rule-based international order and threatens to limit the powers of moderate and democratic states to confront and eliminate terror organizations that threaten the international system. The attempt to equate Israel’s elected leaders to Iran-backed terror commanders of Hamas deserves special denunciation. It is atrocious to equivocate elected leaders of a democratic state striving to protect its citizens to a terrorist organization whose members committed heinous war crimes that reek of depravity and religious and racial hate, including sexual attacks against women who were violated and killed in front of their family and children.
If ICC judges act on this request, this would be tantamount to binding the hands and constraining the powers of regional states ranging from Morocco to Turkey, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Jordan, and others that have existing conflict with deadly terrorists that share Hamas ideology.
We strongly urge ICC judges to decline the prosecutor’s request and avoid creating a dangerous precedent that will be difficult to unroll. The United States and democratic nations everywhere should explicitly communicate to the ICC that its actions would prevent states in the future from executing their duties to their citizens and to global peace.
