Biden to Work with Congress to Impose Sanctions Against ICC for Issuing Arrest Warrants Against Benjamin Netanyahu
The Biden Administration is seeking to work with Congress to impose sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) officials after the Hague-based court announced the request for arrest warrants for Israeli leaders over its brutal war on Gaza that has now killed more than 35,500 people, mostly women and children since Oct. 7, 2023.
At a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said that he wished to see renewed US sanctions on the court following the move announced by ICC prosecutor Karim Khan on Monday, May 20.
Both President Joe Biden, and his political democrats have unanimously condemned Khan’s announcement, claiming that the court does not have jurisdiction over the war in Gaza.
“I want to take actions, not just words,” Graham said to Blinken. “Will you support the bipartisan effort to sanction the ICC, not only for the outrage against Israel but to protect in the future our own interest?”
“I welcome working with you on that,” Blinken responded.
Khan, in his announcement, stated that he had reasonable grounds to believe that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s defense chief and three Palestinian Resistance leaders “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Pro-Palestinians across the globe criticized the ICC’s decision for seeking to arrest Palestinian Resistance Leaders, accusing Khan for equating resistance leaders with Israeli war mongers.
The United States is not a member of the court, but has always meddled in past prosecutions, including the ICC’s decision last year to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the wake of the war between Ukraine and Russia.
The office of ICC prosecutor Karim Khan also added on Tuesday that he had backed issuing arrest warrants for Israeli leaders after claiming that he did not see any evidence Israeli courts were investigating crime in the Palestinian territory.
“Despite significant efforts by the prosecutor’s office, he did not receive information from Israel that proves genuine legal processes are taking place to check or investigate the stated crimes,” his office told Israeli news Channel 12.
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