Israel is lobbying member states of the UN’s International Criminal Court (ICC) to cut funding for the tribunal in response to its launch of an inquiry into possible war crimes in the Palestinian territories, officials said yesterday. Later last night, it said that it had cracked the first “cell” of the Islamic State group found on its soil, after a gag order on the case had been eased.
Israel said seven Arab citizens would be prosecuted on charges of planning attacks in the Jewish state and communicating with the insurgent group in Syria.
The defendants — including a lawyer who was representing himself in court — denied the charges of belonging to an illegal group, aiding terrorism and contacting foreign agents, an Israeli Ministry of Justice spokesman said, citing the gag order.
Photo: REUTERS
ICC prosecutors on Friday said that they would examine “in full independence and impartiality” crimes that may have occurred since June 13 last year in the Palestinian territories. This allows the court to delve into the war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza in July and August last year that killed more than 2,100 Palestinians — mostly civilians — and 70 Israelis who were mostly in the military.
The decision came after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas requested ICC membership, which is to come into effect on April 1.
Israel, which does not belong to the ICC, hopes to dent its funding, which is drawn from its 122 member states, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman said yesterday.
“We will demand of our friends in Canada, in Australia and in Germany simply to stop funding it,” he told Israel Radio.
“This body represents no one. It is a political body,” he said. “There are a quite a few countries — I’ve already taken telephone calls about this — that also think there is no justification for this body’s existence.”
He said that he would raise the matter with visiting Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird.
Another Israeli official told reporters that a similar request was sent to Germany, traditionally one of the court’s strongest supporters, and would also be made to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is visiting Jerusalem and whose nation is the court’s largest contributor.
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