A House Democrat is leading a charge to immediately terminate aid to the Palestinian Authority unless it withdraws its request to join the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signed the ICC treaty, the Rome Statute, after the PA’s resolution at the UN Security Council to make Israel withdraw from territory it claims failed.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon confirmed that the Palestinians will be part of the ICC on April 1.
“Palestinian President Mahmooud Abbas’ application to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) is an affront to all of those who have engaged for years in efforts to accomplish a peaceful resolution to the decades long Israeli–Palestinian conflict,” said Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.). “The Palestinian Authority’s anticipated war crimes complaint against Israel will, in no uncertain terms, severely hinder future comprehensive peace talks in a time when the advancement of a two-state solution that ensures enduring peace has never been more important.”
“For more than half a century, Israel has been America’s most reliable strategic partner in the Middle East,” Hastings continued. “It is essential that we remain supportive of Israel’s absolute right to defend itself and protect its citizens. We cannot stand by while the Palestinian Authority, engaged in a unity government with Hamas, makes frivolous and damaging claims against Israel Defense Forces soldiers and Israeli citizens residing in settlements in the disputed West Bank.”
“Congress must halt the $400 million American dollars sent annually to the Palestinian Authority until it withdraws its counterproductive request to join the International Criminal Court and returns to the negotiating table with Israel.”
It’s a companion bill to Senate legislation introduced by Rand Paul (R-Ky.).
Last week, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) issued a joint statement calling the Palestinians’ ICC bid “deplorable,” vowing a “strong response” from Congress.
“If the ICC makes the egregious mistake of accepting the Palestinian Authority as a member, given that it is not a state, Congress will seek ways to protect Israeli citizens from politically abusive ICC actions,” the senators said.
“Palestinian leaders will no doubt try to do to the ICC what they have done to international organizations like the UN Human Rights Council — take an organization with laudable goals and undermine its credibility by turning it into a political battering ram against Israel.”
The White House said that President Obama discussed the issue with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone Monday.
“On the Palestinian ICC bid, President Obama reiterated the United States’ position that the Palestinian Authority does not yet constitute a state and is therefore not eligible to accede to the Rome Statute,” the White House said in a readout of the call. “President Obama underscored that the United States does not believe Palestinian accession to the ICC is a constructive way forward. The United States continues to strongly oppose actions by both parties that undermine trust and encourages both sides to seek ways to deescalate tensions.”
Pressed this week on the U.S. stance that the Palestinians don’t meet the qualifications to join the ICC, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters, “Our position is what it is.”
“Neither the steps they have taken, nor the actions the U.N. Secretary has taken that we talked about a lot in this room warrant the conclusion the Palestinians established a state or have the legal competencies necessary to fulfill the requirements of their own statute,” Harf said. “That is our legal position here.”
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