The White House is considering action against Palestinian diplomats in Washington after Ramallah asked the International Criminal Court on Tuesday to investigate alleged Israeli crimes, The Times of Israel has learned.
According to a US law passed in December 2015, the Palestinian Authority is subject to penalties if it pursues the prosecution of Israelis at the Hague-based ICC. One of those ramifications includes the closing of their diplomatic mission to the United States, run by the Palestine Liberation Organization.
“We are reviewing this latest development to determine if it requires changes to the operating status of the PLO office in Washington, D.C., which has been limited to activities related to achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between the Israelis and Palestinians since November 2017,” a National Security Council spokesperson said.
Last November, then US secretary of state Rex Tillerson refused to certifythat the Palestinians were complying with that Congressional mandate, initiating intense speculation over whether the Palestinian facility in the capital’s Georgetown neighborhood would close.
The measure gives the sitting US president 90 days to consider whether the Palestinians are engaging in “direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel.”
If US President Donald Trump determines they are, the Palestinians can keep the office. If not, he has the right to shutter it.
The 90 days have since passed, and while direct the Israeli-Palestinian peace process remains moribund, the Palestinian embassy remains open.
The White House on Tuesday urged both sides to re-enter final-status peace talks and derided the ICC move as unhelpful to the ultimate goal of a negotiated settlement.
“The US continues to believe that direct negotiations between the two parties are the only way to achieve a comprehensive and lasting peace,” the NSC official said. “Involving the ICC does not get us closer to peace.”
In PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki’s “referral” to the court during a meeting with the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, on Tuesday, he cited Israeli settlement policies along with the recent violence in Gaza as a basis for the investigation, calling it an important “test” of accountability for the ICC.
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