New Delhi, July 14 -- WASHINGTON - The Palestinians killed in Gaza have no advocate in the halls of American power. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that on Sunday, announcing that the United States would deploy a "whole-of-government response to systematically disable" the International Criminal Court, the one institution that has formally charged the men responsible for ordering those deaths.

The announcement, delivered via a video message and a co-authored op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, represents the most aggressive American challenge to international criminal law in a generation. At its centre is a deliberate effort to protect Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, both subject...