WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump enacted on Feb. 6 an executive order to allow for the imposition of sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its alleged bias against Israel and the United States.
The ICC issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over Israel’s actions in Gaza in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel.
“This malign conduct in turn threatens to infringe upon the sovereignty of the United States and undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States Government and our allies, including Israel,” he continued.
The United States nor Israel is a party to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC in 2002.
The ICC criticized the executive order, saying it hurts “its independent and impartial judicial work.”
The Hague court went on to say that it “stands firmly by its personnel and pledges to continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world, in all situations before it.”
The court—based in The Hague, Netherlands—arrests and prosecutes foreign individuals for crimes against humanity. Currently, 125 countries are under the statute.
What the Executive Order Says
The executive order paves the way for the United States to sanction individuals who “have directly engaged in any effort by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute a protected person without consent of that person’s country of nationality.”These sanctions would consist of blocking those people from entering and having assets in the United States.
Family members of those sanctioned could also be affected.
Additionally, the executive order prohibits assisting those who have been sanctioned by the United States.
Moreover, it requires Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to submit a report to the president by April 7 about who should be sanctioned under the executive order.
“The United States remains committed to accountability and to the peaceful cultivation of international order, but the ICC and parties to the Rome Statute must respect the decisions of the United States and other countries not to subject their personnel to the ICC’s jurisdiction, consistent with their respective sovereign prerogatives,” stated Trump.
ICC’s Accusations Against Netanyahu and Gallant
The ICC announced last November warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant “for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed” between Oct. 8, 2023, and May 20, 2024.They were accused of “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”
Netanyahu and Gallant criticized the warrants, with the former accusing the ICC of “absurd and false actions” and the latter saying the move “sets a dangerous precedent against the right to self-defense and moral warfare and encourages murderous terrorism.”
Gallant was fired as defense minister in November.
All three have since died.
Senate Failed to Pass ICC Sanctions Bill
The executive order came just over a week after the Senate failed to advance a bill to sanction the ICC.All but one of the Senate Democrats voted against invoking cloture on the measure—which would have required 60 votes to overcome the filibuster, which applies to most legislation in the upper congressional chamber.
The bill would have enabled the United States to slap sanctions on those involved with the ICC’s work when it comes to dealing with the United States, Israel, and any other ally not a party to the Rome Statute.
Additionally, the measure would have ceased U.S. support for the ICC.
Democrats claimed that the bill was too broad and would allow for the sanctioning of American companies that do business with The Hague court.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer claimed that the bill would allow Trump to “arbitrarily sanction the heads of state of our allies.”
Whether the bill will be modified or brought up again is to be determined. The bill previously passed the House in a bipartisan vote.
