Toronto (February 8, 2021) - Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) is calling for an end to the ongoing political witch hunt against Israel at the hands of the International Criminal Court (ICC), after the court decided last week it would be moving forward with a war crimes probe into Israel’s military actions in the Palestinian territories.

On Friday, ICC judges asserted that the court had the necessary jurisdiction to proceed with the probe of Israeli actions even though Israel is not a member of the court and despite the fact that the court would not claim one way or another whether the Palestinian territories even constitute a state. The decision was celebrated by terrorist organization Hamas, which continues to wage a campaign of rocket and other attacks on the Israeli population and which released a statement praising the court’s decision on Saturday.

FSWC commends Canada for joining other democracies such as Australia in voicing its concerns with the court’s decision and affirming its longstanding position that the ICC lacks any legal jurisdiction in Gaza and the West Bank.

“The ICC has an important role in addressing human rights violations committed around the world. But instead of addressing many of the human rights crises currently languishing on its docket, the court is using its valuable time and energy pursuing a highly biased and politicized investigation against Israel that falls far outside its mandate,” said Michael Levitt, President and CEO of FSWC.  “We are pleased that Canada has taken a principled stand in speaking out about the ICC’s obvious overreach in this matter and we hope to see Canada continue to defend the legitimacy and integrity of the international justice process by opposing such politically-motivated and prejudiced witch hunts against Israel.”

‍