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Several members of Congress are threatening the International Criminal Court with sanctions after it issued arrest warrants related to the war in the Middle East.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been given a wide berth by its allies to bomb Gaza as part of his declared war on Hamas, stemming from the militant group’s Oct. 7 attacks in Israel last year. But last week, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, former Israeli defense chief Yoav Gallant and Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, charging them with war crimes and crimes against humanity. (The Israeli military says it killed Deif in July, but Hamas has not confirmed his death.)
The United States historically has refused to recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction, holding concerns that the court could bring charges against American troops abroad. Israel has taken the same stance, so it’s not exactly a surprise that President Joe Biden and pro-Israel figures on Capitol Hill condemned the warrants. The list of incensed lawmakers included Reps. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., and Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., as well as Sens. Jackie Rosen and John Fetterman, D-Pa.
Rosen called for Biden — who welcomed last year’s ICC arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin — to “swiftly respond to this overreach.” Torres said sanctions are in order, while Moskowitz cited an “antisemitic double standard.” Fetterman was, true to form, more crass in his response.
But Republicans were arguably even more rabid in their reaction. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, for example, took things a step further, threatening to sanction American allies into economic oblivion if they comply with the ICC’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant. (Graham also embraced the Putin warrant last year and urged the international community to support the court.)
During an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Friday, Graham warned:
You’re gonna have to pick the rogue ICC vs. America. I’m working with [Sen.] Tom Cotton to have legislation passed as soon as we can to sanction any country that aids and abets the arrest of any politician in Israel. What they’re doing in Israel is trying to prevent a second Holocaust. So, to any ally — Canada, Britain, Germany, France — if you try to help the ICC, we’re gonna sanction you.
When Hannity asked what the penalty should be, Graham replied, “We should crush your economy, because we’re next. Why can’t they go after Trump or any other American president under this theory?”
One might respond that the International Criminal Court can’t go after Donald Trump or any other American president — unless they commit a crime against humanity.
The aforementioned Cotton offered an ominous threat of his own, referencing a 2002 law signed by President George W. Bush.
“The ICC is a kangaroo court and Karim Khan is a deranged fanatic,” he wrote on X. “Woe to him and anyone who tries to enforce these outlaw warrants. Let me give them all a friendly reminder: the American law on the ICC is known as The Hague Invasion Act for a reason. Think about it.”
The U.S. has had a complicated relationship with the court for more than 20 years, but the looming return of Trump — who supports allowing Israel to “finish the job” in Gaza — to the White House may only serve to embolden lawmakers in their defiance of the ICC’s findings.