House Republicans on Tuesday introduced legislation to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its deliberations to bring arrest warrants against top Israeli officials.
The "Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act" is the House companion to a Senate bill of the same name introduced by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., in February 2023.
This legislation, brought by Reps. Brian Mast, R-Fla., Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., would "sanction any individual working to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute American citizens or an official from an allied U.S. country, including Israel."
"Our legislation sends a clear message to the International Criminal Court," Mast said in a press release. "We may not recognize you, but you sure as hell will recognize what happens when you target America or its allies."
The bill comes days after the ICC pushed back on "threats" it perceived coming from the U.S. and Israel. It also comes after reports that a bipartisan group of senators met with senior ICC officials over its investigation into Israel. It also comes a day after the revelation that a dozen GOP senators sent a letter to ICC top prosecutor Karim Khan on April 24.
"These arrest warrants would align the ICC with the largest state sponsor of terrorism and its proxy. To be clear, there is no moral equivalence between Hamas' terrorism and Israel's justified response," the senators wrote, concluding, "You have been warned."
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, framed Tuesday's legislation as "sort of a precaution" in the event the ICC moves forward with international arrest warrants.
"We want to emphasize to him that going down this road of arrest warrants is a really bad idea and it's going to blow up the relationship," McCaul told Axios.
Khan said he opened an investigation in March 2021 regarding war crimes committed by Israel and terrorists in the 2014 Israel-Hamas war. The ICC said its probe extended "to the escalation of hostilities and violence" in the aftermath of Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists slaughtered more than 1,200 Israeli citizens, including women, children, and infants.
Israel has told the United States that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is pressing the ICC to bring arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Herzi Halevi.
"The International Criminal Court's threats to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli Defense officials expose a campaign to undermine the only democracy in the Middle East, while turning a blind eye to the numerous human right atrocities committed by Hamas," Stefanik said in the release. "The ICC is on notice; if they move forward with these illegitimate warrants, the international bureaucrats involved will face consequences."
President Joe Biden has publicly declared he opposes the ICC's consideration of arrest warrants.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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