PM previously asserted his leadership role won’t interfere with his graft trial * Premier said working from office basement for safety * IDF says drones from Iraq, Lebanon downed
Nov 10, 2024
GOP Senator Tom Cotton: ‘Kangaroo court’ ICC has no right to target Israeli officials
Senior Republican US Senator Tom Cotton issues a blistering critique of efforts by the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants against Israeli leaders over the war in Gaza.
In a statement, Cotton argues that the court “has no jurisdiction in Israel and its legal pursuit of Israeli officials in built on a lie.”
He calls the ICC a “kangaroo court” and says any attempt by its prosecutor Karim Khan to “threaten the United States and its allies should be seen as an act of aggression and face swift retaliation.”
Cotton touts a House-approved bill to sanction Khan and anyone else involved in potential international arrest warrants targeting Americans or US allies, and calls for it to be brought for a vote in the Senate.
Despite widely being expected to take a senior role in the upcoming Donald Trump administration, Axios has reported that Cotton has declined to take such a position and said he’ll stay in the Senate.
Trump, Scholz speak and agree to ‘work for return to peace in Europe’
US President-elect Donald Trump has spoken with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz by phone, Berlin says, adding that they “agreed to work together towards a return to peace in Europe.”
“Both exchanged views on the German-American relationship and the current geopolitical challenges,” adds the chancellor’s spokesman Steffen Hebestreit.
Netanyahu asks court to delay his testimony in his graft trial, saying war has made it impossible to prepare
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s legal team has filed a request with the Jerusalem District Court to delay his testimony in his corruption trial by two-and-a-half months, claiming that a series of security incidents that happened during the time given to prepare him for the testimony has made the task “impossible,” Hebrew media outlets report.
The requests reportedly cites several major developments in the war in recent months, adding that they “caused most of the time slots meant to prepare the prime minister to give his testimony to be canceled due to urgent security or diplomatic needs.”
It contends that “this small delay will enable the defense to properly prepare for his testimony and won’t harm the public interest.”
The request has been widely expected, on grounds that the ongoing war prevents him from adequately preparing for his testimony, as well as that the prime minister cannot stand trial in the court at this time since it does not have a safe room or bomb shelter.
Netanyahu’s private home was targeted in a Hezbollah drone attack last month, reportedly prompting new security protocols that have seen him work primarily from changing, secure locations.
Netanyahu is scheduled to begin testifying on December 2 with the beginning of his legal team’s defense after the prosecution rested earlier this year. This testimony is expected to last several hours a day and take weeks to complete.
In July this year, Netanyahu’s legal team requested that the court postpone his testimony from November until March 2025 due to his need to manage the war, but the court rejected the request and set the date for December.
The prime minister has been charged with fraud and breach of trust in two cases and bribery, fraud and breach of trust in a third. He was indicted almost five years ago, in January 2020, and the trial began in May of that year. He denies all the allegations against him.
Netanyahu previously argued that he would be able to stand trial while also serving as prime minister. The new development may be met by fresh petitions by government watchdog groups to the High Court of Justice to have the prime minister recused from office, after previous petitions demanding this were rejected.
Continue reading at www.timesofisrael.com
Also read
Netanyahu celebrates Trump’s ‘huge victory,’ Israeli settlers expect unconditional support
We remind our readers that publication of articles on our site does not mean that we agree with what is written. Our policy is to publish anything which we consider of interest, so as to assist our readers in forming their opinions. Sometimes we even publish articles with which we totally disagree, since we believe it is important for our readers to be informed on as wide a spectrum of views as possible.
