As soon as Blinken's plane landed, the International Court of Justice ordered the arrest of the Israeli prime minister. What is the attitude of the US side regarding the arrest of Netanyahu ordered by the International Court of Justice, and what impact will the Israeli prime minister's inclusion on the wanted list have on the Palestinian-Israeli situation?
On April 29, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, by special plane, starting his seventh trip to the Middle East since the outbreak of the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict. According to the report, in addition to participating in the World Economic Forum held here, Blinken's visit will still focus on the Gaza ceasefire talks. This is because there are two pressing matters before the United States, one is the ground offensive that the Israeli army may launch in the Rafah area at any time, and the other is that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to be on the wanted list of the International Criminal Court.
In a way, the two can be "conflated," as Netanyahu has been charged with denying humanitarian aid to Gaza and retaliating too brutally against Hamas. You must know that the current round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has caused more than 34,000 deaths, and once the Israeli army launches a ground attack on Rafah, Rafah, which has become a "Gaza refugee camp", will inevitably break out into an even more serious humanitarian crisis.
Judging from the current situation, although Blinken's trip is mainly arranged to discuss the ceasefire issue with high-level leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Palestine and other countries, this does not mean that the Biden administration has no intention of appeasing its ally Israel. You know, from the beginning of the ICC's investigation into the actions of Israeli forces in Gaza and the West Bank, Netanyahu's government has been trying to downplay the impact of the wanted warrant and imploring the US to intervene to stop it.
According to reports, the day before Blinken's flight to the Middle East, Netanyahu also spoke with Biden on the phone, exchanging views on Israeli-Iranian tensions, the release of hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza, and asked Biden to block the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court for himself and other Israeli officials. So why is the Netanyahu government so nervous about issuing an arrest warrant from the International Court of Justice?
Some industry experts pointed out that although a wanted warrant is not enough to have much real impact on Israel, and it is unlikely to bring Netanyahu himself to court, it is a considerable blow to Israel's international image. You must know that no matter how much the Israeli top brass claims that Israel is "the only democratic country in the Middle East and the only Jewish country in the world," it cannot change the fact that the Israeli army has caused bloodshed in Gaza. And if convicted of war crimes, Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials will find it difficult to visit countries that have signed the Rome Statute, and freedom of movement will be affected.
To put it simply, Israel is campaigning for the elimination of Hamas militants in Gaza, but it does not intend to bear the negative consequences. In order to "seize" the commanding heights of public opinion, Israel is in urgent need of the support and assistance of its allies. What is Washington's attitude on this matter?
White House spokesman Pierre responded at a regular press conference on April 29 in two sentences, that is, the United States does not support the investigation and does not believe that the ICC has jurisdiction. Because the ICC is an independent organization, this body's investigation into the conflict in Gaza was conducted "without any contact with the United States."
Through this statement, which is almost "putting the cart before the horse," it can be seen that the United States has blatantly "favored" Israel. In particular, protests from all walks of life in China are rising, and international public opinion has accused the United States of providing military aid to Israel and obstructing the ceasefire in Gaza. Although Biden urged Israel to allow humanitarian organizations to deliver relief supplies to civilians in Gaza during the phone call, this is not enough to cover up the suffering brought to the Israeli army and the Palestinian people.