JERUSALEM — The scandal-plagued International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Jewish state’s former defense minister It has brought the court into the crosshairs of a potential American sanctions regime.
Last week, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war plans related to eliminating Hamas terrorism in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas killed nearly 1,200 people on Oct. 1, 2023, in southern Israel. Including more than 40 Americans.
Israel’s Kan news agency said the Trump administration plans to launch sanctions against ICC judges who issued arrest warrants. This includes Karim Khan, the court’s chief prosecutor.
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Former President Trump shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida on July 26, 2024. (Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO)/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Khan, Chief Prosecutor of England His allegations are being investigated. commit a sexual offenseThis is something he firmly denies, noting that there is “no factual suggestion” of such behavior, according to the report.
Avi Bell, a law professor at the University of San Diego and Bar Ilan University in Israel and founder of the Israel Law and Liberty Forum’s annual Law and Democracy Project, told Fox News Digital that “several years ago the ICC threatened to Charge American soldiers with crimes in Afghanistan The ICC’s lack of jurisdiction does not give it pause for a second. It was only President Trump’s sanctions against the ICC (during his first term) that forced the ICC to comply with the law and drop its threat to prosecute Americans. Sanctions against the ICC will not work.”
Mike Waltz, Trump’s nominee for national security adviser, announced on X, “You can expect a strong response to the ICC and UN’s anti-Semitic bias in January.” ”
One of Trump’s key Senate allies, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., raised the stakes in a recent Fox News interview, saying, “To any of our allies, Canada, England, Germany, France, if you’re trying to help, ICC, we will punish you.”
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the LA-based Simon Wiesenthal Center; Warn the democratic state that They may face persecution from the judicial activism of the world’s premier war crimes tribunal based in The Hague. Netherlands
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Karim Khan is the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC. (Getty Images/File)
He told Fox News Digital: “The kangaroo court warrant is a mockery of justice and a victory for Iran and terrorists. Israeli leaders are guilty of protecting their citizens from genocidal terrorists. France and the Netherlands were the first to confirm. They will arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu and the list could reach 124 countries. Watch out, you might be next.”
Both the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations branded the ICC a flawed judicial system for Americans. and refused to join international organizations
“The arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Gallant is a legal joke. But the arrest warrant is a very serious development,” Bell said. “Under Karim Khan’s predecessor as ICC prosecutor, the ICC was simply ineffective. Khan launched an era of political satire. The court has devoted most of its resources to political honors. with a new complaint The court therefore has greatness in its name. The worst terrorists and criminals in the world.”
When contacted for comment on Bell’s criticism, ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdullah told Fox News Digital, “We do not comment on such announcements.”
Israel opens Kisufim to transport humanitarian aid trucks The assistance includes deliveries of food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment to central and southern Gaza. (IDF Spokesperson Unit)
Legal academics have called on countries to walk away from the ICC, saying: “The ICC will only abandon its ways if it is forced to pay a heavy price. Countries should withdraw from the Rome Statute and stop paying its dues.” They should impose sanctions on the ICC and prohibit cooperation with the ICC. And as long as the ICC continues to issue arrest warrants for people without jurisdiction over the charges Trump has made, ICC personnel should be criminally punished. from attempted kidnapping and support for terrorism”
The ICC, which began operations in 2002, relies on the authority of signatories to the Rome Statute. It outlines the four main international crimes that the court will prosecute: genocide; crimes against humanity war crimes and crimes of aggression All of which are “not subject to any statute of limitations” but are limited to crimes that occurred after the law came into force.
Asked if anti-Semitic sentiment had influenced the ICC’s arrest warrant, Bell said: “I do not feel that the arrest warrant was motivated by the personal anti-Semitism of the ICC judges. The ICC has always preyed on the politically weak: former African countries and now Jewish states. It is anti-Semitism that is widespread in the Western world. Especially in progressive groups That makes Israel politically weak and highly vulnerable. It is a symptom of a far greater institutional moral decay than extremism alone.”
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Terrorists from Hamas attend a military parade. (Reuters/Ibrahim Abu Mustafa/File)
Gabriel Noronha, former adviser to the U.S. State Department about iran who is currently a member of the American Jewish Institute for National Security told Fox News Digital that the ICC knew Iran could be punished for legal action against Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, but the ICC “decided to ignore diplomacy and face the repercussions.” from the United States”
He added that US sanctions This means that affected ICC personnel will not be able to obtain visas to enter the United States. And their assets and bank accounts will be frozen in America.
“Boycotts can be quite broad and include family members,” Noronha said.
Noronha echoed Graham’s words. He said a second Trump administration might use “A diplomatic strategy to impose sanctions on countries that cooperate with these ICC arrest warrants.”
Some European countries have already criticized the ICC’s decision. Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg wrote in X that “The ICC’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant is completely incomprehensible.” International law is non-negotiable and applies everywhere and at all times. But this decision is detrimental to the court. credibility”
He continued: “It is nonsense to create equality between members of democratically elected governments and leaders of terrorist organizations.”
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for deceased Hamas leader Muhammad Deif.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has ignored the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for the Israeli leader.
“The ICC’s unfortunate decision undermines its authority in other cases. By comparing the elected representatives of democratic states with the leaders of Islamist terrorist organizations,” he wrote in X.
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Viktor Orban, Hungary’s conservative Prime Minister accused the ICC of He said the decision to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over the war in Gaza undermines international law and increases tensions.
United States and European Union Classifies Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization.
Peter Aitken of the Associated Press and Fox News contributed to this article.
