Liam Conner
washington —The House is expected to pass a Republican-backed bill that would punish the International Criminal Court for its decision to seek the arrest of senior Israeli officialsincluding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The ICC must be punished for this action,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said Tuesday. “We cannot allow this to remain.”
O legislation, which was introduced by Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas and is co-sponsored by more than 70 Republicans, would sanction those involved in “any effort to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies.” The sanctions include revoking US visas held by ICC officials, blocking their entry into the US and preventing them from carrying out real estate transactions.
Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, said he expects “a lot” of Democrats to oppose the measure, although they still support it. Israel.
“The relationship the US has with Israel is strong,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “We will continue to be a strong ally of Israel.”
Still, the vote could further expose democratic divisions over the war in Gaza.
The effort to punish the ICC was initially expected to be bipartisan after Republicans and Democrats expressed outrage when the court’s top prosecutor sought arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza. . The prosecutor is also seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leaders.
But the White House, after criticizing the ICC, said he would not support the measure. In a statement released Monday, the White House said it “strongly opposes” the legislation, arguing it was too broad.
“This legislation could require sanctions against court officials, judges, witnesses, and U.S. allies and partners who provide even limited, targeted support to the court in a range of aspects of its work,” the White House said, although it stopped short of threatening a veto if the measure reaches the president’s desk.
House Democrats made similar arguments Tuesday during debate on the bill.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, a New York Democrat, said the move is “counterproductive” to U.S. interests and undermines its leadership abroad.
“Sanction by the court and all those who support it will backfire on us,” said Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the ICC’s actions against Israel “devalued the court’s reputation” by placing “politics above justice.”
“Today, it is Israel,” he said. “Tomorrow it could be the United States and we must sanction those who deliberately abuse their power for political gain.”
The measure will likely be ignored by the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Kristin Brown contributed reporting.
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