US House approves sanctions on ICC for action against Israel

The United States House of Representatives approved this Tuesday (June 4, 2024) a bill that imposes sanctions on the ICC (International Criminal Court) for issuing arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials from the country. Here is the full approved text (PDF – 237 kB, in English).

There were 247 votes in favor and 155 against, with 42 Democrats in favor of the measure and 2 Republicans voting against. Despite approval in the House of Representatives, the possibility of the project becoming law is considered low.

The Biden administration is against the bill and claims that there are “more effective ways to defend Israel”. However, the Democratic government has not explicitly announced that it will veto the text.

In a statement, the White House stated that the proposed legislation would target American allies and make it mandatory to restrict visas for people who help the International Criminal Court.

“This legislation could require sanctions against judicial officials, judges, witnesses, and U.S. allies and partners who provide even limited, targeted support to the court in a number of aspects of its work.”these.

The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, Michael McCaul stated that the ICC’s action is illegitimate and that the US must support its allies.

“Failure to act here in Congress would make us complicit in the ICC’s illegitimate actions. We must not remain silent. We must support our allies”, declared the republican.

ARREST WARRANT AGAINST NETANYAHU

On May 20, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced who requested arrest warrants against the Prime Minister of Israel and leaders of the extremist group Hamas.

In a statement, Khan stated that he had “reasonable grounds to believe”based on evidence collected and examined by his office, that authorities bear criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

The action, however, has no practical effectiveness. Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, founding court in The Hague, Netherlands. The United States, China and Russia are also not members of the ICC.

The arrest of Netanyahu and the extremist leaders could only be carried out if the authorities traveled to one of the 124 signatory nations of the treaty, such as Brazil.

The request for arrest was also not well received by the Israeli leader by President Joe Biden.

At the time, Netanyahu described the complaint as “shame” and stated that “Israel’s fight against Hamas” will continue, while the North American leader stated that the “application of arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous”.