The Monster’s Shield: US Congress Backs Sanctions on ICC after Criminalizing “Israeli” Officials

By Staff, Agencies

The US House of Representatives has passed a bill to sanction the International Criminal Court [ICC] in retaliation for the judicial body’s arrest warrants for “Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former war minister, Yoav Gallant.

The Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act would impose sanctions on ICC officials and entities supporting the court’s investigations, arrests, and detentions of Americans and citizens of allied countries. The legislation was passed 243 to 140 on Thursday.

In a statement ahead of the vote, Representative Brian Mast, who leads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called The Hague-based judiciary a “kangaroo court.”

The bill will now move to the Senate, where Republicans have the majority. The Democrats blocked a similar bill when they controlled the Senate in June.

In November, the ICC issued warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant on charges of committing war crimes in Gaza.

The ICC lacks any means of enforcing its legal decisions without the active participation of states bound by the Rome Treaty. “Israel”, like the US, Russia, and China, does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction.

More than 46,000 Palestinians have been martyred in Gaza since October 2023.