The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) in protest of the arrest warrants it issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister, related to Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip.
The bill, which passed with 243 votes in favor and 140 against, allows for sanctions against any foreign national who investigates, arrests, detains, or prosecutes American citizens or citizens of allied countries, including Israel, who are not members of the court.
Forty-five Democrats joined 198 Republicans in supporting the bill. No Republicans voted against it.
“America is passing this law because a bogus court is trying to arrest the prime minister of our great ally, Israel,” said Representative Brian Mast, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, during a speech on the floor prior to the vote.
This vote, one of the first since the new Congress began its work last week, underscored the strong support of Republicans, allies of President-elect Donald Trump, for the Israeli government now that they control both chambers of Congress.
Trump is set to take the oath of office on January 20 for a second term as president.
The newly appointed Republican Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, has pledged that the Senate will quickly consider this bill so that Trump can sign it into law immediately after taking office.
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal that can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of aggression in member states or by their nationals.
The court has stated that its decision to issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials was consistent with its approach in all cases, based on an assessment by the prosecutor that there was sufficient evidence to proceed, and with the view that issuing arrest warrants immediately could prevent ongoing crimes, reports REL.
Republicans in Congress have denounced the ICC ever since it issued the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense chief, Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 15-month conflict in Gaza.
Israel has denied the accusations.
The Republican-led House passed the bill in June calling for sanctions against the ICC, but it was never considered in the Senate, which at the time was under Democratic control.
