A dozen Republican senators have threatened the International Criminal Court (ICC) with sanctions if the body moves forward with an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or other Israeli leaders.
The ICC has for weeks considered an arrest warrant for Netanyahu as allegations of war crimes in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza mount.
“Target Israel and we will attack you,” the senators, led by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), wrote in a letter late last month, threatening to “sanction your employees and associates, and prohibit you and your families from U.S.”
“You have been warned,” he concludes.
The letter, first reported by Zeteo, warns the ICC that the US could invoke the American Service Members Protection Act (ASPA) in any response to arrest warrants. O A SPASanctioned in 2002, it prohibits US cooperation with the ICC and authorizes the president to take any action to prevent Americans or allies from being detained by the court.
Neither Israel nor the US are members of the ICC, although the Palestinian territories were granted membership status in 2015.
The Biden administration has said it does not support an ICC war crimes investigation into Israel, but has not commented on whether it would pursue sanctions against the court if Netanyahu or others were sentenced to prison.
“We were very clear about the ICC investigation. We do not support this. We don’t believe they have jurisdiction. And I’ll leave it at that for now,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last week.
The letter says that any attempt to issue warrants against Israeli leaders would be “illegitimate and lacks a legal basis,” adding that issuing warrants would “align the ICC with the largest state sponsor of terrorism and its proxy,” referring to Iran and Hamas.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) doubled down on the letter in a statement to The Hill on Monday.
“The credibility of the ICC is already suspect, which is why the United States would never yield to its authority,” Cramer said. “If they continue to accuse Israel’s leadership of crimes for defending its citizens against terrorists, the ICC could also declare itself an enemy of freedom.”
The court responded to unspecified threats in a public statement last week, a week after the Republican senators’ letter was sent to the body.
“The Office seeks to engage constructively with all interested parties whenever such dialogue is consistent with its mandate under the Rome Statute to act independently and impartially,” the ICC Prosecutor’s Office said. said in a statement posted on social platform X.
“This independence and impartiality are undermined, however, when individuals threaten to retaliate against the Court or Court officials if the Office, in carrying out its mandate, makes decisions on investigations or cases that fall within its jurisdiction,” the statement continues.
“Such threats, even when not put into practice, may also constitute an offense against the administration of justice under art. 70 of the Rome Statute.”
The potential action against Israel comes after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin last year for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. President Biden supported the action, calling it “justified.”
The letter was also signed by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), as well as Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Tedd Budd (RN.C.), Cramer , Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Rick Scott (R-Florida), and Tim Scott (RS. C. ).
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
