A senior legal adviser to the US State Department has issued a dramatic threat to the International Criminal Court’s oversight body, warning that “all options are on the table” if the court does not drop investigations and arrest warrants against the US and Israel.
Reed Rubinstein made the threat on Tuesday during a meeting of the Assembly of State Parties (ASP), the ICC’s oversight body, in New York.
“We will use all appropriate and effective diplomatic, political and legal instruments to block ICC overreach,” the US representative warned.
“Our additional sanctions of June 5 should underscore our resolve,” he added, referencing the US’s recent move to sanction four ICC judges who issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant last November.
Rubinstein went on to threaten the ICC: “To be clear, we expect all ICC actions against the United States and our ally Israel – that is, all investigations and all arrest warrants – to be terminated,” he said.
“If not, all options remain on the table.”
The ASP was meeting to discuss a potential amendment to the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty, to expand the court’s jurisdiction over the “crime of aggression”.
The court has jurisdiction in the 125 countries that recognise its authority.
Hellbound and Down 