ARAB AND WORLD
Thu 12 Dec 2024 9:23 am - Jerusalem Time
White House welcomes wanted war criminal Galant despite ICC warrant
Wanted war criminal Yoav Galant, Israel's former defense minister, reportedly visited the White House on Tuesday for a meeting with a key official in President Joe Biden's administration — just weeks after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him on charges of crimes against humanity.
Galant posted on social media that he met with President Joe Biden’s Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk, on Tuesday to discuss a deal to release Israeli hostages held in Gaza. In the Facebook and X posts, he wrote that there was “a real possibility of a breakthrough” to reach a deal. He attached photos of himself cheerfully shaking hands with McGurk, a right-wing hawk who supports the Israeli occupation and a remnant of the first Trump administration who was instrumental in shaping Biden’s Gaza policy.
He added that the meeting was one of several scheduled in Washington, D.C., including a meeting with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy that was canceled after protesters demonstrated outside the Gallant Hotel in New York City last week.
On November 21, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Galant, bringing him to The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes for using starvation as a method of warfare and directing a deliberate attack against civilians in Gaza. Galant is no longer a member of the Israeli government. He directed the Israeli military as defense minister during the Israeli genocide until last month, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu replaced him with someone more loyal to the prime minister.
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White House welcomes wanted war criminal Galant despite ICC warrant