The US House of Representatives has voted to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC), protesting its issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a measure by a vote of 243 to 140 that would sanction foreign nationals who investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute citizens of the US or US allies such as Israel that are not members of the court.
All 198 Republicans voted in favor of the measure, with 45 Democrats joining them.
“America is passing this bill because the quasi-court wants to arrest the prime minister of our great ally Israel,” said Representative Brian Mast, the Republican chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, before the vote.
The vote, the first in the lower house since the new Congress began its session last week, underscores the strong support for the Israeli government among Republicans who now control both chambers.
The ICC has not yet commented on the decision. The Trump administration had already imposed sanctions on the international body in 2020 for its investigation into alleged US war crimes in Afghanistan, including torture.
The sanctions were lifted by the Biden administration, although Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in May that he was prepared to work with Congress on potentially imposing new sanctions on the ICC for its role in arresting Israeli leaders.
The new sanctions also allow for the prosecution of individuals who assist the court in its work.
The ICC is a body that investigates war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and crimes of aggression in countries that are party to the ICC.
The court has jurisdiction over the territories of 125 member states, but the United States, China, Russia, India, Israel, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran are not among them.
The Palestinian Authority signed the statute in 2015, and the court ruled in 2021 that its jurisdiction extends to Gaza and the West Bank with East Jerusalem.
Signatories to the Rome Statute, including Croatia, are required to execute arrest warrants issued by the court.
The governments of some signatories, such as Ireland, the Netherlands and Slovenia, have announced that they will comply with the warrants, but some countries, such as Hungary and Poland, have declared Auschwitz.
The ICC indicts Netanyahu and the former defense minister for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the 15-month war in Gaza. Israel denies the charges.
The Republican-led House of Representatives had already tried to sanction the ICC in June, but the bill never made it to the upper house, which then had a Democratic majority.
The new Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune has now announced that the bill will be quickly considered in that body so that Trump can sign it soon after taking office this month. Trump’s inauguration takes place on January 20th.
