News / Reports

Netanyahu accuses ICC of anti-Semitism

Monday, 23 December 2019 7:05 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 23 December 2019 7:11 PM ]

Mona Kandil
Press TV, Ramallah

Once again, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu angrily slammed the decision of the International Criminal court to move towards probing Israeli war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories and Gaza Strip. This time, Netanyahu accused the ICC of anti-Semitism, calling it an absurd decision that showed the court was being weaponized against Israel.

On Friday, chief prosecutor of the Hague-based International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, said she would launch a full investigation into alleged war crimes in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip as soon as the court’s jurisdiction had been established.

Netanyahu responded by saying the ICC had no jurisdiction to investigate events in the Palestinian Territories, arguing it could only examine petitions submitted by a sovereign state. Experts fear the Israeli authorities will do their utmost to prevent the probe from taking place.

Israel has not joined the international criminal court but the Palestinian Authority has done so since 2015. The PA then filed legal complaints against Israel at the ICC and ever since, it has submitted to the court evidence of many cases of war crimes committed by Israel.

Observers say since Israeli authorities won’t easily surrender to the ICC’s decisions, if the Palestinians seek to regain their rights, from now on, they should be prepared for worst from Tel Aviv.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk