The Israeli government told the International Criminal Court that it did not recognize its authority to investigate Israel for alleged war crimes, Israeli news outlets reported on Thursday.
This comes just days before a deadline to respond to the court's decision to investigate both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, despite Israel not being a signatory to the Rome Statute that governs the court and even though the PA is not recognized as a full-fledged state.
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Recommendations submitted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Defense and Foreign ministries, and the military were debated well into this week before a decision was made.
Netanyahu, after meeting with senior ministers and government officials ahead of a Friday deadline to respond to an ICC notification letter, said Israel would not cooperate with the inquiry, but it will send a response.
"It will be made clear that Israel is a country with rule of law that knows how to investigate itself," he said in a statement. The response will also say Israel "completely rejects" the assertion that it was carrying out any war crimes.
The ICC announced in March that it had formally notified Israel and the Palestinian Authority of its upcoming probe into alleged war crimes in their conduct in the 2014 Gaza war and thereafter.
The move gave the two parties a one-month period to apply for deferring the case, with the court noting that a party must prove that it is capable of investigating the matter on its own.
The notifications were sent to all signatories of the Rome Statute, the court's founding charter, as well as Israel and Palestinians, on March 9, with Israel's Channel 13 News confirming that Jerusalem received it and is yet to respond.
Under Article 16 of the Statute, an ICC investigation or prosecution can be deferred for up to a year on a request from the UN Security Council, which must first approve the appropriate resolution.
Israel, however, is not a party to the Rome Statute and has vociferously protested the court's decision, adding that it is capable of conducting its own investigations.
Jerusalem also argues that the Palestinian Authority is not a state and therefore cannot legally be a member of the court.
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"The political campaign to exploit the ICC for the demonization of Israel has continued for 20 years, funded by the EU and European governments," Anne Herzberg, legal adviser of NGO Monitor, a pro-Israel think tank, told local media.
"Given that cooperation with the Court is most likely futile, the Israeli government should focus on persuading Europe and other Western governments of the need to end this abuse under the facade of international law."
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
