Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool via AP, File)
Republican lawmakers threaten sanctions against International Criminal Court if Israeli leaders targeted for current Gaza war.
By World Israel News Staff
A dozen Republican lawmakers have threatened to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court if the court issues arrest warrants against Israeli leaders and military service members over the ongoing Gaza War.
On April 24th, eleven Republican senators signed onto a letter penned by Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and addressed to Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, the British attorney currently serving as the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, Politico reported Monday.
In the letter, the twelve senators noted reports that Khan is considering issuing international arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials for actions taken during Israel’s war against the Hamas terror organization.
Any such warrants would be “illegitimate and lack legal basis,” the lawmakers wrote, warning of severe sanctions against the ICC should Israeli leaders be targeted.
“Target Israel and we will target you. If you move forward with the measures indicated in the report, we will move to end all American support for the ICC, sanction your employees and associates, and bar you and your families from the United States.”
“You have been warned,” the letter concludes, also taking the ICC to task for not issuing arrest warrants for foreign leaders including Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Syrian President Bashar al Assad, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, or Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The senators signed on to the letter include its author, Tom Cotton, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Senators Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Katie Britt of Alabama, North Dakota’s Kevin Cramer, Ted Budd of North Carolina, Ted Cruz of Texas, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, Marco Rubio of Florida, Rick Scott of Florida, and Tim Scott of South Carolina.
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