The House passed legislation Thursday that would impose sanctions on International Criminal Court officials, launching a frontal attack on the court by rebuking its decision to charge senior Israeli leaders with war crimes for their offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
The bill directs the president to freeze real estate and deny visas to any alien who has contributed materially or financially to the court’s efforts to “investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute a protected person.” Protected persons are defined as all current and former military and government officials of the United States and its allies who have not consented to the Court’s jurisdiction, such as Israel.
The measure is one of several that passed the House by Republicans last year but died in the Democratic-led Senate, and is now almost certain to pass now that Republicans control both houses of Congress and that Mr. Trump takes office on January 20.
Last year, a a similar measure attracted some bipartisan support in the House, but still faces resistance from many Democrats, who join Republicans in criticizing the ICC’s decision to prosecute Israeli leaders, while calling the sanctions too broad and ineffective. With the Republicans now in power, the obstacles to passing the bill appear to have disappeared.
“The ICC’s rogue actions only enable terrorists who seek to wipe Israel off the map, and they cannot be allowed to go unchecked,” Sen. John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and Republican, said this week. majority leader. “In November, I promised that if Leader Schumer did not introduce the ICC sanctions bill, Republicans would. And we will soon keep that promise and vote to support our ally Israel.”
The 243-140 House vote, in which 45 Democrats joined all Republicans in supporting the bill, reflects considerable bipartisan aggravation among lawmakers with the court’s decision to prosecute Israeli officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity alongside the leaders of Hamas. , whose deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 triggered a bloody reaction in the Gaza Strip.
“America is passing this law because a kangaroo court is seeking to arrest the prime minister of our great ally,” said Rep. Brian Mast, Republican of Florida and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He accused the court of anti-Semitism, trying to prevent the Israeli military from succeeding and obstructing efforts to free Israeli and American hostages held by Hamas.
“This bill sends an incredibly important message around the world,” added Mr. Mast. “Don’t stand in the way of America or its allies trying to bring our people home. You will be given no quarter, and once again, you will certainly not be welcome on American soil. »
The United States has sent billions of dollars worth of arms shipments to Israel since the start of the armed conflict, despite international condemnation of its attack on Gaza and accusations from rights groups. man that their actions in this country amount to genocide. Efforts to broker a ceasefire have eluded the Biden administration. Mr. Trump said this week that if Hamas does not release the Israeli hostages by his inauguration“all hell is going to break out in the Middle East.”
Congressional Republicans have been trying to crack down on the court since May, when its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced that he was looking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, alongside Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza; Ismail Haniyeh, its boss based in Qatar; and Muhammad Deif, its highest military commander. The House first passed a bill to impose sanctions on court officials and their associates. just two weeks later.
In November, the court issued warrants for Mr. Netanyahu, Mr. Gallant and Mr. Deif for war crimes and crimes against humanity. By then, it was confirmed that Mr. Sinwar and Mr. Haniyeh had been killed by Israeli forces. Israel also has claimed to have killed Mr. Deif.
Supporters of the bill argued that the sanctions are a necessary rebuke to the court’s decision to equate Israeli leaders with the top brass of a terrorist group like Hamas. They also insisted that the move constitutes a significant rejection of what they see as overreach by the Court, given that Israel, like the United States, has not consented to its jurisdiction .
The bill is “critically important not only to our friendship with our ally Israel, but also to our own national security, the protection of our men and women in uniform,” said Rep. Chip Roy, Republican of Texas. and author of the bill, on television. ground. He argued that if the United States failed to impose sanctions on the court, American service members could be targeted for their conduct in foreign conflicts.
The ICC, Mr. Roy added, “should have no authority over our people, no authority over the prime minister of Israel.”
Most Democrats opposed the legislation, arguing that it attempted to punish too many people for the decision.
“Republicans want to sanction the ICC simply because they don’t want the rules to apply to everyone,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts. “There is no international. right to revenge, and what we see in Gaza is revenge. »
The International Criminal Court claims jurisdiction over alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed by citizens of states that have recognized the Court or committed in countries that have recognized the Court. The Palestinian Territories did so in 2015, a few years after the United Nations admitted Palestine as an observer state.
The United States and Israel were among only seven countries that voted against the creation of the criminal court in 1998. Although both countries later became signatories to its founding document, the Rome Statute, neither country has not ratified it.
