ADC: Statement on Prime Minister Netanyahu's Visit to Washington DC

 This statement was sent out by email at mid-day February 4th.

ADC's Statement on Prime Minister Netanyahu's Visit to Washington D.C.

This morning, President Trump welcomed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House for his first in-person meeting with a foreign leader since the start of his second administration. Discussions surrounding the "ceasefire", Iran's nuclear power, and normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia are expected. We are deeply concerned by his arrival in Washington as Israel continues to violate the ceasefire agreement in both Palestine and Lebanon.  “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington—while he remains under an active International Criminal Court arrest warrant for war crimes, including the systematic use of starvation—constitutes a grave insult to international justice. The United States, though not a signatory to the Rome Statute, only further isolates itself alongside Israel by extending this invitation to an indicted war criminal," said ADC National Executive Director, Abed Ayoub.  Netanyahu's visit also comes at a time when the ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon are on extremely fragile ground. Israel’s ongoing attacks in the occupied West Bank—where at least 70 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers this year alone—demonstrates a blatant disregard for any semblance of peace. Since the initial November ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, Israel has killed 83 people, injured over 200 civilians, and has displaced thousands attempting to return to the South.

Last week’s failed Senate vote to impose sanctions on the ICC offers a sliver of hope that the court may yet hold perpetrators of war crimes accountable. The possibility of sanctioning the ICC remains real, which would shield Netanyahu and others complicit in the 15-month slaughter that claimed over 61,000 Palestinian lives in Gaza.  Hosting Netanyahu does not align with American interests. He has a long history of ridiculing and betraying U.S. presidents—President Biden being the latest example—and of dragging the United States into unnecessary wars. Netanyahu’s wars do not make the Jewish people, Israelis, Americans or the wider world any safer. We urge our elected officials and the international community to reject any efforts to undermine the rule of law, and to stand on the side of justice for the countless victims of Netanyahu’s genocide in Gaza and endless wars against the Palestinian people.”   Our work is not possible without your support. Consider making a contribution to ADC today.