Bipartisan Congress votes to sanction ICC over Netanyahu arrest warrant

President Biden “strongly opposes” the bill because it punishes too many people, even those only peripherally involved in any potential case.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

A bipartisan Congress voted Tuesday to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) over arrest warrants its top prosecutor wants to swear out against Israel’s two highest officials for alleged war crimes being committed in Gaza.

The 247-155 vote saw 42 Democrats join every GOP legislator save two, who voted “present.”

It was a show of political anger at Karim Khan’s targeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as if their defensive actions in response to the Hamas invasion and documented massacres of October 7 were comparable to those of the Hamas leaders whose arrest he simultaneously demanded.

The “Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act” is also an attempt to dissuade the ICC from issuing the warrants, which have one bureaucratic hurdle left to pass before being implemented.

All those involved in ICC cases against Americans or citizens of American allies that are not ICC members, which includes Israel, would become sanction targets.

This includes all court employees and case witnesses, as well as those who are even peripherally taking part, for example by providing outsourced services such as technological support to those who “investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute a protected person.”

Sanctions listed in the legislation include denying entry and citizenship to the U.S. of non-Americans, revocation of visas, and blocking any American property transactions.

Even immediate family members of violators can be penalized.

President Joe Biden “strongly opposes” the bill as it currently stands, the White House said on Monday. His objections center on the number of people that could be affected by it, although his administration “is deeply concerned about the ICC Prosecutor’s heedless rush to apply for arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials.”

“There are more effective ways to defend Israel, preserve U.S. positions on the ICC, and promote international justice and accountability, and the Administration stands ready to work with the Congress on those options,” the statement said.

Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Brian Mast (R-FL) cosponsored the bill.

“The International Kangaroo Court is trying to create a false equivalency between Hamas and Israel,” Mast said in explaining his defiance of the president. “Hamas raped and butchered 1,200 innocent Israeli and American citizens on October 7th. Everything Israel has done since has been to secure the release of the remaining hostages, including six Americans.”

“It’s time that Congress put this globalist organization in its place,” he continued. “House Republicans will send a clear message that although America doesn’t recognize the International Criminal Court — the court sure as hell will recognize what happens when you target our allies.”

The bill will now go to the Senate, where it is acknowledged it has little chance of passing unless it is heavily modified, and perhaps not even then, considering the White House opposition.

Brian MastICC arrest warrantsIsrael-Hamas warU.S. CongressUS sanctions