Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Elise Stefanik co-led a letter with Congressman Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) and Congressman Marc Molinaro (R-NY) to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging the Biden Administration to oppose any efforts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants on Israeli officials.
These warrants would set a dangerous precedent that will delegitimize Israel’s right to self-defense and threaten officials in all democracies fighting terrorists around the world, including America.
In the letter, the lawmakers state, “The leadership of our greatest ally stands falsely accused of war crimes, ranging from disproportionate force to deliberately starving the Palestinian civilians within the Gaza Strip. These accusations cannot be further from the truth. The civilian casualty ratio reported during these ongoing operations in the Gaza Strip is one of the lowest in any instance of urban warfare. That remains true even if you believe the figures coming from the Gaza Health Ministry. The latter accusation also stands on unsound foundations, as Israel has attempted to allow as much well-vetted humanitarian aid in as possible under the current security situation, accompanied by direct aid deliveries from the United States and our allies.”
The lawmakers continue, “The United States must continue to pressure the ICC to prevent any of these warrants being issued for members of the Israeli government. The ICC’s time and resources would be much better spent prosecuting the leadership of the terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip, who sit in lavish apartment blocks in Qatar, far away from the conflict, and whose members have been well documented engaging in war crimes on October 7th. If they do decide to move forward with these arrest warrants, it is our hope that the administration will stand with our ally Israel, reject any attempts to execute these warrants, and enforce severe consequences on those engaged in this sham prosecution. We look forward to a prompt reply and immediate action.”
Find the full letter here.
