Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is scheduled to fly to the United States on Dec. 1 for talks with the Biden administration, in his first foreign trip since the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Likud lawmaker will travel on a scheduled El Al flight, risking an emergency landing in one of the 123 countries that recognize the jurisdiction of the court in The Hague and are legally obligated to execute any arrest warrant it issues.
Gallant was slated to meet his American counterpart, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, early last month to discuss “ongoing Middle East security developments,” but Netanyahu postponed the trip at the last minute.
Netanyahu announced Gallant’s firing less than four weeks later, saying it was prompted by disagreements on how to conduct the war against Hamas, Hezbollah and other Iranian terrorist proxies in the region.
During the nixed Oct. 9 visit, Gallant was supposed to coordinate with senior U.S. officials, including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
U.S. President Joe Biden has denounced the ICC’s Nov. 21 decision to issue arrest warrants for the two Israeli leaders as “outrageous.”
“Let me be clear once again: Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence—none—between Israel and Hamas,” said Biden, adding, “We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
The United States is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the ICC in 2002, and does not recognize its authority.
Israel also rejects the court’s jurisdiction, but in a legalistic sleight of hand, it has claimed jurisdiction by accepting “Palestine” as a signatory, even though no such state is recognized under international law.
On Friday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán invited Netanyahu to visit Budapest, dismissing the ICC arrest warrant as an “outrageously brazen” and “cynical” political act disguised as a judicial one.
Hungary is one of Israel’s staunchest allies in the European Union and has blocked on several occasions E.U. initiatives to isolate or punish the Jewish state by preventing the consensus required for some such moves.
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Monday that his country will detain Netanyahu and Gallant if they step foot on British soil.
