WASHINGTON DC: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has received support from a number of unexpected quarters after declaring he wants to penalise the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for a decision by its independent prosecutor to apply for arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, its Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders.

Although the application by ICC prosecutor Karim Kahn KC (main picture) is yet to be heard by judges of the ICC, his intention to seek the arrest of the two Israeli politicians for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Israel-Hamas war has prompted outrage within the Biden administration.

Mr Blinken (below) said the ICC prosecutor had made a “profoundly wrongheaded decision”.

“Yeah, yeah, I know he made it after a painstaking and impartial investigation over many months conducted by experienced war crimes analysts who examined both incriminating and exonerating evidence equally,” he said.

“And yeah, I know he had all the evidence reviewed by an impartial panel of experts in international humanitarian law and international criminal law who supported his conclusion that he should apply for the arrest of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant.

“But gimee a break – these are our guys. Plus it’s just totally wrong to think anyone in a functioning democracy like Israel – with its own legal system and its own courts to address any alleged illegality – should ever be arrested, or worse, put on trial for war crimes,” Mr Blinken said.

His comments were supported immediately by former US President and presumptive presidential candidate, Donald Trump.

“I happen to agree with the Secretary of State. The ICC should keep its nose out of Israel’s business,” he said before spending another day in the Manhattan Criminal Court. “Democracies with their own impartial courts can look after themselves.

“As Americans we’re lucky we have the greatest demagoguery in the… I mean democracy in the world and part of that is the fact we have our very own, very independent, and very highly respected Supreme Court (below) so we don’t need things like the ICC and neither does Israel,” Mr Trump said.

Mr Blinken also received support for his anti-ICC stand from three other former world leaders.

In a joint statement, former Australian prime minister John Howard, former US President George W Bush, and former UK prime minister Tony Blair (left to right below in a 2003 photo) said any decision by the ICC to grant Mr Kahn’s application for arrest warrants would set a dangerous precedent.

Their statement also said they were seeking legal advice on whether any statute of limitations applied to war crimes.

Mr Netanyahu himself said he stood by to offer Mr Blinken practical advice and support in dealing with troublesome courts.

“I’ve got a bit of experience when it comes to that subject, even though the ongoing war against Hamas has probably caused a lot of Israelis to thankfully forget that fact,” he said.

“When I get a chance to talk to Mr Blinken I’ll be advising him not to pussyfoot around with the ICC – go straight to heavy bombardments and missile attacks.

“Even if he wipes out The Hague and most of the Netherlands and its people in the process it’ll be worth it,” he said.

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