ISLAMABAD: In an unfortunate development, the US House has voted to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) to protest its issuing of arrest warrants of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister over Gaza war crimes.
According to Reuters, the vote was 243 to 140 in favour of the “Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act,” which would sanction any foreigner who investigates, arrests, detains or prosecutes US citizens or those of an allied country, including Israel, who are not members of the court.
Forty-five Democrats joined 198 Republicans in backing the bill. No Republican voted against it.
“Kangaroo court”
“America is passing this law because a kangaroo court is seeking to arrest the prime minister of our great ally, Israel,” Representative Brian Mast, Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a House speech before the vote.
The House vote, one of the first since the new Congress was seated last week, underscored strong support among President-elect Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans for Israel’s government, now that they control both chambers in Congress.
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Trump will be sworn in on January 20 for a second term as president.
The Senate’s newly appointed Republican majority leader, John Thune, has promised swift consideration of the act in his chamber so Trump can sign it into law shortly after taking office.
The ICC is a permanent court that can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression in member states or by their nationals.
The Republican-led House passed the act seeking to sanction the ICC in June, but the measure was never taken up in the Senate, which at the time was controlled by a Democratic majority, Reuters reported.
Risk of arrest
According to Guadian, Netanyahu and Gallant are at risk of arrest if they travel to any of the 124 countries that signed the Rome statute establishing the ICC.
