Top Republican senator calls for ‘swift retaliation’ against ICC, chief prosecutor
Tom Cotton, from the US state of Arkansas, has issued a statement calling for action against the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its chief prosecutor for pursuing Israeli officials.
Cotton was a strong contender for Trump’s running mate, and the US president-elect’s team is now considering him for the cabinet role of defence secretary, according to Politico and Axios. The Senator, however, has turned down that offer, according to Axios.
In his statement, Cotton said the ICC “has no jurisdiction in Israel and its illegal pursuit of Israeli officials is built on a lie”. He added, “Any attempt by kangaroo court prosecutor Karim Khan to threaten the United States or our allies should be seen as an act of aggression and face swift retaliation.”
Khan asked for arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders in May, saying there were reasonable grounds the men had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The court has yet to decide on the warrants.
Netanyahu seeks to delay hearings in corruption trial: Report
Israel’s YNet News is reporting that lawyers for the Israeli prime minister have asked the Jerusalem District Court to delay his testimony in his corruption trial by two-and-a-half months, citing Israel’s war on Gaza and attacks on Lebanon.
Netanyahu, who has been charged with fraud, bribery and breach of trust in three cases filed in 2019, had been scheduled to testify in court on December 2.
The Times of Israel, citing Hebrew-language media, said the lawyers claimed it has been “impossible” for Netanyahu to prepare his testimony “due to urgent security or diplomatic needs” amid Israel’s ongoing wars.
Netanyahu faces up to 10 years in jail and/or a fine if he is found guilty of bribery.
The Israeli prime minister has been accused of trying to circumvent his legal troubles, including through a controversial judicial overhaul plan, which sparked widespread protests.
Israelis have ‘skilfully’ diverted attention from Gaza
Sultan Barakat, a senior professor in public policy at Qatar’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University, says Israel has the upper hand against Hezbollah, but its continuous pummelling of Lebanon indicates a deeper “hidden agenda”.
“I think there is a level of coordination going on regionally and potentially nationally. [They are] only after the infrastructure of the Shia community in Lebanon,” Barakat told Al Jazeera.
“There is a contradiction between saying we won the war and then wanting to continue in this war unless the hidden agenda is really to increase the pressure on Lebanon … to a level where Lebanon becomes irrelevant in any future deal,” he added.
In Gaza, Israel has “skilfully managed to use the Iran threat to divert attention from the Gaza massacres into the need to de-escalate potential conflict in the Middle East”, Barakat said.
“So all the international effort has now shifted on how to calm the Iranians down … And they’re continuing with their original plan of displacing the Palestinians within Gaza.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s plan for the Middle East remains vague, while outgoing President Biden “may choose to take a parting shot on Netanyahu based on the cost”, like Barack Obama’s 2016 UN resolution declaring Israeli settlements as illegal.
