On Monday, the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor announced he is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to charge them with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan has responded with a Senate resolution to remove the United States from the I.C.C., which is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands.
His bill is titled, “Stop the ICC Act.” It calls for a prohibition against cooperating with the ICC and prohibits funding for the Palestinian Authority, a supporter of Hamas, as well as prohibits funding for the I.C.C.
I.C.C. Chief Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan announced that he was “filing applications for the warrants of arrests” for Netanyahu, and other senior Israeli and Hamas figures who have played key roles in the ongoing war in Gaza.
A panel of three judges will decide whether to issue the arrest warrants. The process could take several weeks. If the judges agree, then Benjamin Netanyahu, other Israeli leaders, and Hamas leaders could be arrested if they left their own borders.
Earlier this month, 12 Republican senators threatened the ICC with sanctions if it moves forward with an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, who has been drawn into a war to defend Israel from Hamas terrorists after an Oct. 7, 2023 raid conducted by the terrorist organization that killed several hundred Israeli citizens and kidnapped over 200. About 100 have been released. Israel says another 100 hostages are still being held captive in Gaza. There are another 39 bodies of hostages that were killed but not released by Hamas. Israel has only been able to recover 17 bodies of hostages.
“The ICC’s false moral equivalency between Israel and Hamas is reprehensible and dangerous,” said Sen. Sullivan. “Israel is facing a threat to its very existence from a barbaric enemy that actually uses civilians as human shields and welcomes civilian casualties as part of its strategy. Republicans and Democrats have rightly condemned the ICC’s outrageous arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, but now we need to back up those words with action. We must end American cooperation with this rogue organization and stand firmly with our strongest ally in the Middle East—the only democracy in the region.”
The legislation can be read at this link.
Sullivan has said multiple times that Israel has a right to defend itself.
“America stands with the people of @Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East, as they repel a widespread assault launched by Hamas terrorists today at the conclusion of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot,” Sullivan noted on X/Twitter on Oct. 7.
“Israel has a right to defend itself and its existence against any terrorist group or its backers, including the largest state sponsor of terrorism—Iran. We must support this right of our close ally during this horrendous attack on innocent Israelis,” Sullivan said in October, a sentiment he has repeated. “The terrorist regime in Iran must know that the United States is watching its actions very closely.”
