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White House Cites Biden Clash With Netanyahu Over Iran as Proof of President’s Mental Fitness
US President Joe Biden hosts the 2023 Teacher of the Year event at the White House in Washington, US, April 24, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Amid growing concerns over US President Joe Biden’s mental fitness, key White House officials are suggesting his foreign policy discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including a clash over how to respond to Iran’s unprecedented military attack on the Israeli homeland earlier this year, serve as evidence that he is still capable of leading from the Oval Office.
Biden and Netanyahu engaged in a heated back-and-forth in the immediate aftermath of Iran launching a massive missile and drone salvo at Israel in April, according to a new report by the New York Times. The US and other allies helped Israel shoot down nearly every drone and missile. The attack caused only one injury.
However, the Times revealed that while Netanyahu initially wanted to respond to Iran in a forceful way, Biden threatened to withhold US support in the event of a major Israeli retaliatory strike, arguing it would risk sparking a regional conflict in the Middle East.
“Aides present in the Situation Room the night that Iran hurled a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel portrayed a president in commanding form, lecturing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone to avoid a retaliatory escalation that would have inflamed the Middle East,” the Times reported. “‘Let me be crystal clear,’ Mr. Biden said. ‘If you launch a big attack on Iran, you’re on your own.’”
“Mr. Netanyahu pushed back hard, citing the need to respond in kind to deter future attacks,” the report continued. “‘You do this,’ Mr. Biden said forcefully, ‘and I’m out.’ Ultimately, the aides noted, Mr. Netanyahu scaled back his response.”
Israel’s military response was small and appeared aimed at minimizing the risk of escalation.
The Times report, headlined “Biden’s Lapses Are Said to Be Increasingly Common and Worrisome,” came on the heels of Biden delivering a widely-panned presidential debate performance last Thursday against former US President Donald Trump. Biden’s performance, which oftentimes appeared incoherent and muddled, set off alarm bells in Democratic circles, sending the president’s allies scrambling to extinguish concerns over his age and mental acuity.
While highlighting rising concerns, the news story also noted instances in which, according to aides, Biden appeared coherent and capable, citing the exchange with Netanyahu and his handling of the Iranian missile attack more broadly as one such example.
However, an anonymous Biden administration official told the Times that they are unsure whether Biden could hold his own against adversarial foreign leaders such as Vladimir Putin of Russia.
On Wednesday, the White House directly attributed quotes to Netanyahu in which the Israeli premier reportedly said he found Biden “very clear and very focused” during his visit to Israel following the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas. According to a White House spokesperson, Netanyahu also reportedly cited the “more than a dozen phone conversations, extended conversations with President Biden” as evidence of the commander-in-chief’s vitality.
“Some White House officials adamantly rejected the suggestion of a president not up to handling tough foreign counterparts and told the story of the night Iran attacked Israel in April,” the New York Times reported. “Mr. Biden and his top national security officials were in the Situation Room for hours, bracing for the attack, which came around midnight. Biden was updated in real time as the forces he ordered into the region began shooting down Iranian missiles and drones. He peppered leaders with questions throughout the response.”
During its first direct attack on Israeli territory, Iran in April launched roughly 300 missiles and drones at the Jewish state.
Leading up to the attack, Iranian officials had promised revenge for an airstrike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria that they attributed to Israel. The strike killed seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), a widely designated terrorist organization, including two senior commanders. One of the commanders allegedly helped plan the Hamas terrorist group’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the incident.
“After it was over, and almost all of the missiles and drones had been shot down, Mr. Biden called Mr. Netanyahu to persuade him not to escalate. ‘Take the win,’” Mr. Biden told the prime minister, without reading from a script or extensive notes, according to two people in the room. In the end, Mr. Netanyahu opted for a much smaller and proportionate response that effectively ended the hostilities,” the article added.
Days later, Israel responded to the Iranian aggression by launching a modest missile attack on an airbase near Isfahan. The Jewish state sought to show that it could effectively target key strategic locations in Iran while not escalating the conflict any further. Netanyahu insisted on launching a retaliatory attack against Iran, arguing that ignoring the Iranian strikes would incentivize more attacks against the Jewish state.
IRGC Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said that Iran is waiting for “the opportunity” to launch a new round of strikes against Israel, Iranian media reported on Tuesday, potentially boosting Netanyahu’s argument that a smaller response would invite further attacks.
The post White House Cites Biden Clash With Netanyahu Over Iran as Proof of President’s Mental Fitness first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Montreal’s Dawson College shut down by student strike in solidarity with Palestine; Concordia remains open despite protests
Dawson College in Montreal shut down classes for almost 10,000 students on Thursday Nov. 21, after students voted 447-247 in favour of a strike to demonstrate solidarity with Gaza. The […]
The post Montreal’s Dawson College shut down by student strike in solidarity with Palestine; Concordia remains open despite protests appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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US ‘Rejects’ ICC Arrest Warrants for Israeli Officials, Lawmakers Vow to Retaliate With Sanctions
The International Criminal Court, The Hague, Netherlands. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
The US castigated the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its decision on Thursday to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, with lawmakers in Congress promising to seek retribution against the court once President-elect Donald Trump retakes the White House in January.
The ICC rejected an appeal by Israel to dismiss the warrants, instead charging Netanyahu and Gallant with “crimes against humanity and war crimes” in the Gaza conflict. The international body accused the Israeli officials of using “starvation as a method of warfare,” as well as “murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.” The court also claimed it discovered “reasonable grounds” to slap Netanyahu and Gallant with charges of “intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.”
Israeli officials vehemently denied the charges, denouncing the ICC’s decision as politically motivated and based on false allegations.
The White House issued a statement condemning the ICC’s announcement.
“The United States fundamentally rejects the court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials. We remain deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, has come under fire for initially making his surprise demand for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant on the same day in May that he suddenly canceled a long-planned visit to both Gaza and Israel to collect evidence of alleged war crimes. The last-second cancellation infuriated US and British leaders, according to Reuters, which reported that the trip would have offered Israeli leaders a first opportunity to present their position and outline any action they were taking to respond to the war crime allegations.
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), Trump[s pick to serve as his incoming national security adviser, wrote on X/Twitter that the ICC will face a “strong response” when the next administration takes office in January.
“These allegations have been refuted by the US government,” Waltz wrote in a post on X. “Israel has lawfully defended its people & borders from genocidal terrorists. You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC & UN come January.”
In May, the ICC chief prosecutor officially requested arrest warrants for the Israeli premier, Gallant, and three Hamas terrorist leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Ibrahim al-Masri (better known as Mohammed Deif), and Ismail Haniyeh — accusing all five men of “bearing criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Israel or the Gaza Strip. The three Hamas leaders have since been killed, and Gallant was recently fired as Israel’s defense minister.
US and Israeli officials subsequently issued blistering condemnations of the ICC move, decrying the court for drawing a moral equivalence between Israel’s democratically elected leaders and the heads of Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that launched the ongoing war in Gaza with its massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7.
A flood of prominent Republican lawmakers repudiated the decision by the ICC and have vowed to sanction the organization.
“The Court is a dangerous joke. It is now time for the US Senate to act and sanction this irresponsible body. The Court defied every concept of fundamental fairness and legitimized a corrupt prosecutor’s actions,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) wrote on social media.
Graham also called on Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the current Senate majority leader, to advance bipartisan legislation that would sanction the ICC over its targeting of Israeli officials.
Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the Senate Republican Leader-elect, lambasted the ICC’s arrest warrants as “outrageous.” He vowed to place legislation on the floor to sanction the international court next year if the current Senate does not take action.
“The ICC’s arrest warrant against Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant is outrageous, unlawful, and dangerous. Leader Schumer should bring a bill to the floor sanctioning the ICC. If he chooses not to act, the new Senate Republican majority next year will,” Thune wrote on X/Twitter.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) wrote a statement in agreement with Thune, calling on the ICC to “abandon its unlawful pursuit of arrest warrants against Israeli officials.” Collins added that if the court refuses to drop the sanctions, “the Senate should immediately consider the bipartisan legislation passed by the House to sanction the ICC.”
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) demanded the ICC reverse course on the warrants or risk being sanctioned by the United States.
“The ICC has lost all credibility. Instead of being an anti-Israel propaganda machine, it must reverse its unlawful arrest warrants against Israeli officials, or face sanctions,” Ernst wrote.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) wrote that “it’s past time to sanction the ICC.”
Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) lambasted the court as “illegitimate” and called on Congress to punish the international organization.
“Congress should immediately pass the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act so that President Trump can sanction ICC officials on day one,” Budd posted on X/Twitter.
Some Democratic lawmakers also bashed the ICC, calling on the Biden administration to take swift action against the international court.
“I’m outraged by the ICC’s politically motivated efforts to target Israel and equate it to the Hamas terrorists who intentionally murdered, raped, and kidnapped civilians on October 7. I’m once again calling on [President Joe Biden] to use his authority to swiftly respond to this overreach,” Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) wrote.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), a lawmaker who has positioned himself as a stalwart ally of Israel in the year following the Oct. 7 slaughters, dismissed the ICC’s warrants as having “no standing, relevance, or path.”
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), arguably the most vocal Democratic supporter of Israel in the House of Representatives, wrote that the ICC decision “represents the weaponization of international law at its most egregious.” He added that the ICC “has set a precedent for criminalizing self-defense.”
“The ICC ignores the cause and context of the war. Israel did not initiate the war,” Torres wrote in a statement.
“None of that context seems to matter to the kangaroo court of the ICC, which cannot let facts get in the way of its ideological crusade against the Jewish State. The ICC should be sanctioned not for enforcing the law but for distorting it beyond recognition,” he added.
In May, the House passed the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, which would place sanctions on the ICC for “any effort to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies.” In October, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) urged Schumer to bring the bill to the Senate floor for a vote.
The post US ‘Rejects’ ICC Arrest Warrants for Israeli Officials, Lawmakers Vow to Retaliate With Sanctions first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Celebrates ICC Arrest Warrants for Israeli Leaders, European States Say They’ll Comply With Court Decision
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell attends a press conference on the day of EU-Ukraine Association Council in Brussels, Belgium, March 20, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman
Hamas, which launched the war in Gaza with its massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7, welcomed the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
“We welcome the International Criminal Court’s issuance of arrest warrants for terrorists Netanyahu and Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the Palestinian terrorist group said in a statement. “We call on the International Criminal Court [ICC] to expand the scope of accountability to all criminal occupation leaders.”
Hamas, which rules Gaza, also called on countries around the world to cooperate with the ICC’s decision “to stop the crimes of genocide against civilians in Gaza.”
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim praised the ICC’s ruling in comments to Reuters.
“This is an important step on the path to justice and bringing justice to the victims but it remains a limited and spiritual step if it is not backed practically by all countries,” he said.
Izzat al-Risheq, a senior Hamas member based in Qatar, was quoted by Israel’s Ynet news outlet as saying that “regardless of the possibility of implementation, the truth that has been revealed is that international justice is with us, while it is against the Zionist entity. This increased awareness and the exposure of the true terrorist face of the occupying entity is in the interest of the Palestinian cause and its future and strengthens our future goal of liberation.”
Meanwhile, several leaders and countries in Europe expressed support for the ICC following its decision to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, and Hamas terror leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict.
The European Union’s outgoing foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the ICC’s decision was not political and should be respected and implemented.
“This decision is a binding decision on all states, all the state parties of the court, which include all members of the European Union,” he said. “The tragedy in Gaza has to stop.”
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp addressed the arrest warrants in parliament.
“The Netherlands obviously respects the independence of the ICC,” he said. “We will examine the ruling, but the position of the cabinet is clear: We are a party to the Rome Statute, and based on the Rome Statute [which established the court] and the ICC Implementing Act, we are obliged to cooperate with the ICC, and we will also do that.”
Veldkamp added that the Dutch government “won’t engage in non-essential contacts” with Netanyahu and concluded, “We will act on the arrest warrants. We fully comply with the Rome Statute of the ICC.”
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris called the warrants “an extremely significant step” and added that anyone in a position to assist the ICC in carrying out its work must do so “with urgency.” The country’s Foreign Minister Micheál Martin emphasized that Dublin is a “strong supporter of the ICC,” urging countries to “respect its independence and impartiality, with no attempts made to undermine the court.”
Spain’s second Vice-President and Labor Minister Yolando Diaz praised the ICC’s decision.
“Always on the side of justice and international law,” Diaz said on X/Twitter. “The genocide of the Palestinian people cannot go unpunished.”
Belgium’s deputy prime minister, Petra De Sutter, called for fellow European countries to “impose economic sanctions, suspend the [EU] Association Agreement with Israel and uphold these arrest warrants,” referring to the deal that established the legal basis for the EU’s current extensive trade ties with Israel.
“War crimes and crimes against humanity cannot go unpunished,” De Sutter added on X.
The Swiss Federal Office of Justice said it would have to arrest Netanyahu or Gallant if they entered Switzerland and initiate extradition to the ICC, arguing it is obliged to cooperate with the court under the Rome Statute.
French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine said France’s reaction to the warrants would be “in line with ICC statutes” but did not clarify whether France would arrest the Israeli leaders if they came to the country, citing legal complexities.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said his country would consider how to interpret the decision and act together with allies. “We support the ICC,” he said. “The court must play a legal role and not a political role.”
Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said, “It is important that the ICC carries out its mandate in a judicious manner. I have confidence that the court will proceed with the case based on the highest fair trial standards.”
In Sweden, Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said Swedish law enforcement determines the arrest of subjects of ICC warrants on its territory, adding that the country “supports the court’s important work and protect its independence and integrity.”
A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not confirm whether Britain would implement the warrants.
Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg criticized the warrants as “incomprehensible and ludicrous” but said Austria would implement them as a party to the Rome Statute.
The post Hamas Celebrates ICC Arrest Warrants for Israeli Leaders, European States Say They’ll Comply With Court Decision first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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