US will sanction ICC if it pursues Netanyahu arrest, incoming Senate leader warns

Senator John Thune, the next Majority Leader of the Senate, warned the International Criminal Court that the US will impose sanctions on the court if it moves forward with plans to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israel’s former defense minister.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

The next leader of the upper chamber of the U.S. Congress warned the International Criminal Court at The Hague Sunday that the United States will impose sanctions on the tribunal should it insist on moving forward with plans to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

South Dakota Senator John Thune took to X/Twitter Sunday, penning a scathing post, castigating the ICC and chief prosecutor Karim Khan over their “outrageous” bid to pursue the arrests of Netanyahu and Gallant.

“If the ICC and its prosecutor do not reverse their outrageous and unlawful actions to pursue arrest warrants against Israeli officials, the Senate should immediately pass sanctions legislation, as the House has already done on a bipartisan basis,” Thune tweeted.

“If Majority Leader Schumer does not act, the Senate Republican majority will stand with our key ally Israel and make this – and other supportive legislation – a top priority in the next Congress.”

Thune, who currently serves as Senate Minority Whip, is set to replace Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell as head of the Republican Senate Caucus on January 3rd, as the 119th Congress begins its two-year session.

With Republicans having picked up a total of four seats in the Senate, giving them a 53-47 majority in the upper chamber, Thune will also become Senate Majority Leader on January 3rd, replacing the incumbent, New York Democrat Chuck Schumer.

Hours after Thune’s tweet, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson noted that the lower chamber of Congress passed a measure to sanction the ICC in June, adding that under Schumer, the Senate had yet to take up the proposal.

“The House voted in JUNE to sanction the ICC if they proceed with their illegitimate plot, but Chuck Schumer has refused to bring the bill up in the Senate,” Johnson tweeted.

“Grateful to see the resolve of Sen John Thune for BOTH of our chambers to stand TOGETHER with Israel in the new Congress.”