The Israeli government has warned President Joe Biden’s administration that it will take retaliatory actions that could lead to the collapse of the Palestinian Authority if the International Criminal Court (ICC) issues arrest warrants against Israeli leaders. According to Axios, Israeli officials have grown increasingly concerned over the past two weeks that the ICC is preparing to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Israeli Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.
The ICC, headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, has been investigating since 2021 for possible war crimes committed by Israeli forces dating back to the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas. This investigation has been extended to include the attacks of October 7 and the ongoing war in Gaza. In recent weeks, Israel has informed the United States that it has intelligence indicating that Palestinian Authority officials are pressuring the ICC’s prosecutor to issue arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, according to two Israeli officials.
If such warrants are issued, Israel has told the Biden administration that it will hold the Palestinian Authority responsible and will retaliate in a manner that could lead to its collapse. Among the potential measures is the freezing of tax revenues that Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, which would bankrupt the authority.
A senior Israeli official told Axios that the threat of ICC arrest warrants is real and emphasized that if such a scenario occurs, the Israeli government is likely to officially decide to punish the Palestinian Authority, potentially leading to its collapse. The possibility of these arrest warrants was discussed in a phone call last Sunday between Netanyahu and President Biden, where Netanyahu sought assistance from the American president.
Biden assured Netanyahu during the call that reports by Channel 12 in Israel, which suggested that the United States might have given the “green light” for the ICC to issue the arrest warrants, were inaccurate.
Washington opposes the ICC’s investigation against Israel. Biden confirmed during the call that the United States opposes the ICC’s investigation against Israel. U.S. officials told ICC officials privately that arrest warrants against Israeli leaders would be a mistake and that the United States does not support this action. An American official said, “We quietly encourage the ICC not to do this, as it would blow everything up, and Israel would retaliate against the Palestinian Authority.” Despite pressure on the ICC’s prosecutor to issue these arrest warrants, the Biden administration does not believe such a step is imminent as the Israelis think.
On Tuesday, White House spokesman John Kirby was asked during a press conference about threats by Republican legislators to enact legislation against the ICC, where he said the United States opposes the ICC’s investigation against Israel but also opposes threats and intimidation against the court’s judges. Israeli officials were concerned about Kirby’s statements and asked the White House if this represented a change in the American stance, but the White House said there had been no change.
