US House votes to sanction International Criminal Court over Israel

On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court in response to its arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his previous defense minister regarding Israel’s actions in Gaza.

The bill was approved with a vote of 243 to 140 for the “Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act,” which would penalize any foreign individual who investigates, arrests, detains, or prosecutes U.S. citizens or citizens from allied nations, including Israel, who aren’t affiliated with the court. Forty-five Democrats supported the legislation along with 198 Republicans. No Republican cast a vote in opposition.

“America is enacting this law due to a kangaroo court attempting to detain the prime minister of our esteemed ally, Israel,” Representative Brian Mast, Republican head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, stated in a speech in the House prior to the vote.

The House vote, marking one of the first actions since the new Congress convened last week, highlighted significant backing from President-elect Donald Trump’s Republican colleagues for Israel’s administration, given their majority in both congressional chambers. The ICC did not promptly reply to a request for remarks.

In 2020, Trump’s initial administration placed sanctions on the ICC due to inquiries regarding war crimes in Afghanistan, which included claims of torture by U.S. nationals. The Biden administration lifted those sanctions, but last May, Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated a readiness to collaborate with Congress to possibly reintroduce sanctions on the ICC concerning the prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants for Israeli officials.

Five years prior, the then-ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and several staff members faced frozen credit cards and bank accounts, in addition to restrictions on U.S. travel. The recent sanctions approved by the U.S. House also allowed for targeting individuals supporting the court’s operations.

In December, court President Judge Tomoko Akane informed the ICC’s 125 member nations that “these actions would quickly compromise the Court’s functioning in all scenarios and cases, endangering its very survival”. Trump is set to be inaugurated on Jan. 20 for a second presidential term. The newly appointed Republican majority leader of the Senate, John Thune, has vowed to rapidly review the sanctions bill in his chamber, allowing Trump to sign it into law soon after his inauguration.

The ICC is a lasting tribunal that may try individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and aggression in member countries or by their citizens. The court stated that its choice to seek warrants against the Israeli officials was consistent with its stance in all cases, stemming from the prosecutor’s assessment that sufficient evidence existed to move forward, and the belief that pursuing arrest warrants promptly could avert further crimes.

Congressional Republicans have criticized the ICC since it released arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant, alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity in the ongoing Gaza conflict spanning 15 months. Israel refutes the claims.

In June, the Republican-controlled House approved the act aimed at sanctioning the ICC, but the Senate, then under Democratic majority, never considered the measure.