US Strengthens Ties with Israel; Condemns International Criminal Court

In a further move of cementing the relationship it has with Israel, the United States today issued a statement through its National Security Adviser John Bolton that threatened to take the International Criminal Court (ICC) to the United Nations in order to limit its remit. The US does not recognize the ICC and has chosen this present moment to come down hard on what it perceives to be the uncalled for prosecution of American citizens by this global body. The first major overture to Israel was the moving of the US Embassy in the country from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, an act that angered the Palestinians and resulted in deaths of many who saw this as an outright affront and backwards step in the move to achieve peace between the age-old opponents.

Bolton’s comments come amidst a lull in international debacles between the US and global bodies, and some question the general wisdom of this move. To make matters worse, the US has decided to close down the office of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) that it had allowed to function as part of the earlier Middle East peace initiative of earlier presidents. This prompted Husam Zomlot, Head of the Palestinian Delegation to the US to condemn this decision, calling it the US pandering to Israel’s will. Heather Nauert, a spokesperson for the State Department had earlier made a statement about the closure of the PLO office, saying, “We have permitted the PLO office to conduct operations that support the objective of achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between Israelis and the Palestinians since the expiration of a previous waiver in November 2017.”