The White House said that US Vice President Kamala Harris confirmed - during a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - her country's commitment to the security of Israel, and its opposition to any investigation by the International Criminal Court into possible war crimes against the Palestinians.
The call - the first between the two since Harris and US President Joe Biden took office in January - came after the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said she would start the investigation.
Which led to a quick refusal from Washington and Tel Aviv.
Earlier on Thursday, the Palestinians urged the court to press ahead with the investigation, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a statement describing the investigation as a defense of "rights and freedoms."
Public Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda - who will be replaced by British Prosecutor Karim Khan on June 16 - said that war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
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Bensouda specified the use of lethal and non-lethal force by Israel in confronting Palestinians demonstrating at the border fence with Gaza after 2018, among the points that the investigation is likely to focus on.
The White House said in a statement that Harris and Netanyahu had indicated their governments' opposition to "attempts by the International Criminal Court to exercise jurisdiction over Israeli soldiers."
The statement added that Harris affirmed "the firm commitment of the United States to the security of Israel," expressing her country's strong support for the recent normalization agreements concluded by Israel with countries in the Arab and Islamic world.
The White House statement also stated that Harris congratulated Netanyahu on Israel's vaccination program against the Corona virus, and agreed with him to increase cooperation on the virus, water, green energy and other initiatives.
For his part, Netanyahu said that he assured the US Vice President, "We will continue to strengthen security cooperation with Washington to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon."