Britain claims support for ICC after opposing war crimes trials against Israel

by

The United Kingdom has maintained its support for the International Criminal Court after Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued an unusual statement against his decision to investigate Israeli actions in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“We absolutely respect the independence of the international criminal court and expect it to honor its own mandate,” British Parliament for the Middle East and North Africa, James Cleverly, told the British parliament on Tuesday. “Britain will remain a strong supporter of the ICC,” he added.

He was responding to a question on Labor MP Wayne David, who later posted on Twitter that Cleverly’s comment was a “slap” to Johnson.

The Palestinian Authority’s envoy to Britain, Husam Zomlot, interpreted Cleverly’s statement as a rejection of Johnson’s opposition to a possible investigation into war crimes against Israel at the ICC.

“We appreciate the British government’s support for the ICC, without exception. We also appreciate the role of the (Labor) opposition in clarifying the issues. War crimes must be punished no matter who commits them, “Zomlot wrote on Twitter.

The British Ambassador to Israel, Neil Wigan, spoke about the issue in an interview with Jerusalem Post editor-in-chief Yaakov Katz and contributing editor-in-chief Lahav Kharkov, which will be published on the weekly’s weekly podcast later this week.

Wigan said his country was a strong supporter of the ICC, adding that he respected the court and wanted it to succeed. “But as Prime Minister Johnson put it, we have had real concerns about how he is addressing the situation in Palestine, both from a judicial point of view and our support for Israel.

“I have made this position public. The court must have its own independence to decide how it wants to approach this. But we thought it was important to get this public position. It’s very unusual, it’s very rare for us to publicly comment on an ICC issue, so that’s an important statement for us, “Wigan said.

Johnson addressed the issue in response to a question from the Conservatives Friends of Israel. In it, he asserted his support for the independence of the ICC.

Johnson wrote: “As a founding member of the ICC, I have been one of its strongest supporters and we continue to respect the independence of the institution.

However, he added: “We oppose the ICC’s investigation into Palestinian war crimes. We do not accept that the ICC has jurisdiction in this case, given that Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute and Palestine is not a sovereign state. This investigation gives the impression that it is a partial and prejudicial attack on a friend and ally of Great Britain. ”

Source