May 21, Washington, DC
If the International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US lawmakers are considering sanctions, according to US House Speaker Mike Johnson. To punish the ICC and make sure its leadership faces consequences if they go forward, Congress is considering all possibilities, including sanctions, since the White House is not taking a leading role. U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan warned on Monday that American officials could be next in line to be threatened by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In addition, "The ICC has no authority over Israel or the United States, and today's baseless and illegitimate decision should face global condemnation." On May 20, ICC chief prosecutor Karim A. A Khan announced that Netanyahu, Israel Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh, three top leaders of Hamas, had all been named in an arrest warrant application for alleged crimes against humanity committed during Israel's seven-month war with Hamas in Gaza.
Lawmakers from the Republican Party demanded Monday that the US sanction the International Criminal Court. "The ICC is an illegitimate court that equivocates a peaceful nation protecting its right to exist with radical terror groups that commit genocide," House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik told the New York Post. Upon hearing the news of the warrants, Stefanik met with Netanyahu first thing Monday morning. A statement from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries characterised the warrants as "shameful and unserious."
Rep. Ted Cruz of Texas filed the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act earlier this month to deport International Criminal Court (ICC) agents who probe or prosecute US persons or US allies by revoking their visas. As for the experts who suggested that the ICC prosecutor seek the arrest warrants, human rights attorney Amal Clooney is one of them. George Clooney's wife released a statement in which she detailed her unexpected role as an advisor to Khan, the head prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
I was appointed to this panel due to my firm belief in the necessity of upholding the rule of law and safeguarding the lives of civilians. In a statement posted on the website of the Clooney Foundation for Justice, Clooney stated that the legislation protecting civilians during war was enacted over a century ago and that it is universally applicable, irrespective of the causes of conflict. The US president, Joe Biden, had previously called the request for arrest warrants by the ICC prosecutor "outrageous" and had promised Israel "will always stand with Israel against threats to its security."
The declaration, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, "fundamentally rejects" the ICC Prosecutor's equivalence of Israel and Hamas, and it has the potential to derail hostage deal and truce discussions. He went on to say that the US has been quite clear, even before the present crisis began, that the ICC does not have authority to hear this case.
According to Blinken, next week the ICC Prosecutor will personally visit Israel to meet with Israeli officials and discuss the ongoing investigation. The "absurd and false warrant by the prosecutor in The Hague is directed not only against the prime minister of Israel and the defence minister but against the entire State of Israel," Israel's prime leader Benjamin Netanyahu said in response to the announcement. P.M. "It is directed against the IDF soldiers, who are fighting with supreme heroism against the vile Hamas murderers," he added in a video statement, as published in the Times of Israel.
