Because of Israel.. US House of Representatives votes on a law punishing the International Criminal Court

In its first urgent mission to support Israel, the US House of Representatives voted Thursday, 243 to 140, on a bill to punish International Criminal Court officials. In its new session, it is under Republican control.

The sanctions were imposed on the International Criminal Court in protest against its issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, due to the Israeli war of extermination on Gaza.

The bill would deny those who persecute Americans or Washington's allies (meaning Israel) visas to enter the United States. Forty-five Democrats joined 198 Republicans in voting "yes" for the bill.

The bill states that the ICC's actions against Israel are "illegitimate and threaten America and its allies," condemns the court's issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and urges "the cancellation of any funding allocated to it."

Republicans control the Senate this session and want to pass the legislation and put it on the table for President-elect Donald Trump after his inauguration.

On November 21, 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galant on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

This is not the first time that Republicans have tried to pass legislation against the International Criminal Court. Last June, Republicans in the House of Representatives, who then formed the majority, also tried to pass a bill to punish the International Criminal Court.

However, the Democrats in the Senate (who were in the majority at the time) refused to bring the bill up for discussion or a vote in the Senate at all, and thus it did not pass. The Democrats’ position at the time was to reject and criticize the court’s decision, but at the same time they considered it unwise to impose sanctions on it.

Donald Trump pledged, following the ICC ruling against Netanyahu and Galant, to impose harsh sanctions on them. Republicans now control the Senate majority with 53 seats to 47, and are expected to seek to bring the bill to a vote. If 7 Democrats join them, it will pass and will then be on the table of the next president, Donald Trump, for approval.

In June 2020, Donald Trump issued an executive order authorizing asset freezes and family travel bans against ICC employees and those assisting in its investigations into possible war crimes committed by US military forces in Afghanistan, prompting the court to halt its investigations against US forces. After President Joe Biden took office, he reversed the previous president’s order.

The Israeli lobby (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC) is active among members of both parties and provides them with financial funding. Members of Congress always defend Israel, and the United States provided Israel with financial and military funding of about $20 billion in its aggression against Gaza and Lebanon in the past period.

Source: Al-Araby Al-Jadeed