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House passes bill to sanction ICC for arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu

January 10, 2025

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The House of Representatives green-lit a bill Thursday that would slap sanctions against foreigners who attempt to enforce the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Illegitimate Court Counteraction (ICC) Act was approved 243-140, with 45 Democrats joining 198 Republicans to back the measure.

All 140 “nay” votes came from Democrats, including “Squad” members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), also voted against the bill.

The act would compel the president to enforce punishments — including the revocation of visas — against ICC officials pursuing Netanyahu, 75, and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, 66, over the conduct of Israel’s war against Hamas.

“The ICC’s decision to issue arrest warrants against the leadership of Israel represents the weaponization of international law at its most egregious,” South Bronx Democrat Rep. Ritchie Torres explained before voting for the bill.

“The ICC has set a precedent for criminalizing self-defense: any country daring to defend itself against an enemy that exploits civilians as human shields will face persecution posing as prosecution.”

The U.S. House did only one thing today.

We passed a bill to protect Israeli PM Netanyahu from the International Criminal Court.

I voted present.

The ICC has no authority over the United States, but we should not get involved in disputes between other countries.

Focus on !

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 9, 2025

Other local Democrats who supported the bill included Manhattan and Brooklyn Rep. Dan Goldman, Queens Rep. Grace Meng, and Long Island Reps. Laura Gillen and Tom Suozzi.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who said he doesn’t want the US to “get involved in disputes between other countries” and has opposed GOP-backed pro-Israel legislation in the past, was the only lawmaker “present.”

In addition to sanctioning ICC officials who target Americans, US entities and allies like Israel that have not consented to global jurisdiction, the bill would also claw back any taxpayer funding of the international court.

Last year, a similar measure passed the House in a 247-155 vote, with 42 Democrats on board, but was not picked up by the Democrat-controlled Senate.

That bill was proposed in response to ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan announcing his intent to pursue the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant over alleged “war crimes” in the Gaza Strip.

In November, the ICC has issued those arrest warrants, alleging that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe the two men “intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival”.

Neither the US nor Israel recognize the ICC, having opted not to ratify the 1998 Rome Statute that created the tribunal.

Thursday’s vote took place during the state funeral of late former President Jimmy Carter at the National Cathedral, roughly a half-hour drive from the Capitol.

Carter, who died Dec. 29 at the age of 100, helped normalize relations between Egypt and Israel with the 1978 Camp David accords.

The 39th president was also a fierce critic of Israel at times, accusing the Jewish state of carrying out apartheid against Palestinians in the West Bank and suggesting the situation was worse than South Africa’s longstanding policy of white-only rule.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast (R-Fla.) said the bill sent “a clear message to the International Criminal Court.”

“We may not recognize you, but you sure as hell will recognize what happens when you target America or its allies,” Mast said on the House floor ahead of the vote.

“The ICC’s attempt to obstruct Israel’s right to defend itself has only prolonged the war and prevented the release of American hostages by boosting Hamas’ morale.”