US welcomes ex-Israeli minister Gallant despite ICC arrest warrant

The US has welcomed Yoav Gallant on its soil, despite the former Israeli minister for military affairs facing an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians.

Gallant met with US President Joe Biden’s West Asia envoy, Brett McGurk, at the White House on Tuesday, posting information about the meeting on social media and attaching pictures of the duo’s shaking hands joyously.

Gallant said the meeting was one of several that had been scheduled in Washington, D.C., including one with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy think tank that was canceled after protesters demonstrated outside Gallant’s hotel in New York City last week.

Last month, the ICC issued arrest warrants against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gallant after charging them with committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, where the Israeli regime has been waging a war of genocide since last October that has featured using starvation as a method of warfare.

ICC issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant for war crimes

The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant.

In its verdict, the court said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that both Gallant and Netanyahu “intentionally and knowingly” deprived Palestinians in Gaza of basic needs like food and water, adding that their actions geared towards destroying the conditions of life in the coastal sliver constituted crimes against humanity.

Several of the 124 members of the tribunal’s statute, including Ireland, Spain, and the Netherlands, have pledged to enforce the warrants if given the opportunity.

The US, the Israeli regime’s biggest ally, has, however, rejected the legitimacy of the warrants, therefore, questioning the legitimacy of the court itself.

The tribunal even faced “coercive measures, threats, pressure, and acts of sabotage” after issuing the warrants.

ICC says facing threats over arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant

The International Criminal Court says it has faced coercion and intimidation after judges issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu over war crimes in Gaza.

The measures have seen Washington’s threatening to subject the court’s staff to sanctions both in the run-up to issuance of the verdicts and afterwards.

Many American lawmakers have thrown their weight behind Congress’ ratifying legislation that threatens to sanction the ICC’s prosecutors, who have served the Israeli officials with the warrants, while some legislators have threatened to invade The Hague over the warrants.

At the same time as dismissing the court’s measures against Israeli officials, Washington has filed “war crimes charges” against two Syrian officials.

Also on Monday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller addressed a press briefing, repeating the US’s opposition to the cases against Israeli officials, but saying Washington supported “an ICC case” against Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

The remarks drew laughter from reporters who questioned the US respect for the international tribunal. 

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