Response to ICC Netanyahu arrest warrant could make US outlier on world stage

Changing of the guard in Washington almost certain to deliver sanctions against the International Criminal Court

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Washington in July. EPA

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US Republicans on Thursday promised to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court after it issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over the war in Gaza.

The court's decision has emboldened the position of incoming Senate majority leader John Thune, who this week promised the new Republican majority in the chamber will make ICC sanctions “and other supportive legislation a top priority in the next Congress”.

Senator Lindsey Graham, a hawkish Republican, on Thursday called the court “a dangerous joke” and urged his colleagues in Washington to “act and sanction this irresponsible body”.

Mike McCaul, chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, rebuked the warrants, saying in a statement: “This anti-Israel witch hunt blatantly ignores the actual facts of this conflict. Israel, like the United States, is not a member of the ICC, and has shown it can investigate and hold its own citizens accountable when necessary.”

Washington does not always condemn the ICC's findings. President Joe Biden welcomed the court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin last year, but noted the US does not recognise the court. In 2009, the US praised the ICC after it issued a warrant for Sudan's then-president, Omar Al Bashir.

Mr Biden called the arrest warrants "outrageous" and said there was "no equivalence — none" between Israel and Hamas.

The changing of the guard in Washington in January when Donald Trump re-enters the White House and Republicans come to power in the new government is almost certain to deliver sanctions against the ICC.

“It is very clear that there will be a response from Congress now when the new Congress comes in, to impose sanctions and other measures against the ICC, the prosecutor, those that have issued these warrants,” EJ Kimball, a senior policy adviser with the US Israel Education Association (USIEA), told The National.

But Washington's response puts the US in a group of countries that it would not typically consider to be friends, one international law expert said.

Elise Baker, a senior staff lawyer for the Strategic Litigation Project at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Centre and Middle East programmes, said she is “not aware of any other country that the US is allied with or would want to be grouped with, putting this type of pressure on the court in terms of sanctions or anything similar”.

“It's quite a striking response. There aren't really other countries that are responding in this way,” Ms Baker told The National.

Mr Trump issued sanctions against the court during his first term over a potential investigation into US conduct in Afghanistan, and his nominees for his second administration have indicated strong support for doing the same with respect to Israel.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives already passed a bill that would issue sanctions against the ICC, but the Democrat-majority Senate has failed to move the legislation to a final vote – leading to rare partisan divides on the typically bipartisan foreign relations committee.

Mr McCaul said the decision sets a “dangerous precedent” that has “significant implications” for the US. Pro-Israel advocate Mr Kimball agrees.

“Israel is fighting the same enemy that the United States is fighting against the same ideology,” Mr Kimball said. “If the ICC … is going to start issuing these arrest warrants for countries exercising their obligations to defend themselves from terrorist groups carrying out brutal attacks, it portends a very dangerous situation for the United States and US troops around the world.”

The USIEA works with members of Congress from both parties to enhance Washington's ties with Israel, frequently leading US politicians on trips to Israel.

Mr Kimball said that, in response to the ICC warrants, the organisation is advocating for the White House to engage “with leaders from both House and Senate to come together with a response that will send a clear message to the ICC that they are causing more harm in the world and creating a more dangerous situation with what they're doing, and that the US is not going to sit idly by”.

That stance would put Washington at odds with some of its most important western allies.

Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, said in a post on X that he respects the ICC arrest warrant, noting European member states have an obligation to arrest if someone who is subject to such a warrant travels to their countries.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that everyone has to abide by international law and that Canada will observe the regulations and rulings of the international courts.

Mr Netanyahu is in a limited company of sitting world leaders who have faced such warrants, alongside Mr Putin and Sudan's Mr Al Bashir.

This will have a significant effect on Mr Netanyahu's global travel, but Washington could again represent an outlier for his status on the world stage, argues Ms Baker.

“It's possible that after some number of months, Netanyahu may be willing to push the boundaries a little and try to show the ICC that he shouldn't be or can't be arrested. Of course, he can travel to the US with no real fear of arrest, because the US is not a member state of the ICC,” she said.

It is also important, Ms Baker said, that the court issued warrants against Hamas leadership, as well.

“This is not as Israel and the US would like to make it seem. This is not a one-sided pursuit of justice. The court really is trying to go after the most senior levels responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, both within Israel and within Palestine.”

While the coming Congress is likely to take a hard line on the ICC, the capital of Arab America is taking a different track.

The mayor of the Michigan city, home to the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the country, said on Thursday that local police would arrest Mr Netanyahu or Mr Gallant were they to visit the area. “Other cities should declare the same. Our president may not take action, but city leaders can ensure Netanyahu and other war criminals are not welcome to travel freely across these United States,” Abdullah Hammoud wrote a post on X.

Jihan Abdalla contributed to this report