‘No Way In Hell Gaza Is a State’ – Republican senator tussles with Canadian FM over ICC arrest warrants

‘Beyond the pale’ – Republican senator fires back after Canadian foreign minister defends decision to enforce International Criminal Court arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

By World Israel News Staff

Canada’s foreign minister defended the Trudeau government’s decision to enforce arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court at The Hague against Israeli leaders, pushing back on criticism by Republican lawmakers last week.

Speaking with the news website Politico in an interview published Sunday, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly responded to threats by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a senior Republican in the upper chamber of Congress where Republicans are poised to take control in January, after Graham warned Congress would impose sanctions on allied nations which aid and abet the ICC decision.

“Canada will take its decision,” Joly said. “Then the U.S. will take its decision.”

“We abide by international norms, including the fact that we’re a founding member of the ICC.”

“For us, it is not a political question. It is a legal question, and it is part also of our own legal system that we respect the jurisdiction of the ICC. Period.”

Joly noted that unlike Canada, the U.S. is not a signatory to the Rome Statute which established the ICC.

On Monday, Senator Graham fired back, calling Canada’s support for the ICC arrest warrants “beyond the pale.”

“The idea that the International Criminal Court seeking arrest warrants against Israel’s Prime Minister and former Defense Minister is an act of international rules-based order is beyond the pale,” Graham said in a press release.

“The prosecutor who instigated the arrest warrants is under investigation. The ICC, in the eyes of the majority of Congress, is acting as a rogue organization asserting jurisdiction based on their belief that something bad happened.”

Graham ripped the ICC for arguing that the Gaza Strip has standing as a sovereign state, and emphasized that Israel is not a party to the ICC treaty.

“Israel is not a member of the ICC, and there is no way in hell that Gaza is part of a recognized Palestinian state. This abuse of jurisdiction has no limits.”

“Why couldn’t the ICC come after an American president or Secretary of Defense if they feel we have done wrong?”

“This is about sovereignty and some semblance of the rule of law. From an American point of view, the ICC has no accountability. For them to come after us would be an attack on our sovereignty. Since we’re not a member, and we are a mature democracy with an independent judiciary, like Israel, we would have little to no say.”

The U.S., Graham added, will “act decisively to reject” actions by the ICC outside of its jurisdiction targeting democratic countries.

“We will make it loud and clear that those countries who assist in enforcing the arrest warrants – even if they are close allies – will hit a wall of resistance in America.”

CanadaICCInternational Criminal CourtLindsey Graham