Washington- Speaking with Time magazine, US President Joe Biden said, “The International Criminal Court is something we do not recognize.” This statement represents a completely separate position from his previous position, in which he supported everything the court did in its effort to impose sanctions and prosecute Russian President Vladimir Putin after he launched war on Ukraine in February 2022.
Congressional leaders, from both the Republican and Democratic parties, had previously called on the White House to provide all possible support to the International Court of Justice in its effort to tighten the screws on Russia. However, the American position completely changed when it came to Israel and its ongoing violations related to its aggression against the Gaza Strip.
The US House of Representatives bill, which allows the imposition of sanctions on the International Criminal Court, especially if it investigates or prosecutes people protected by Washington or its allies, represents a final step in this endeavour.
Double standards
The legislation, which bore the number (HR 8282), passed with the support of a majority of 247 votes against 155 against, with all Republican representatives and 42 Democratic representatives voting in favor of the draft resolution. The bill must receive the approval of the Senate and the signature of US President Joe Biden in order to become law.
The legislation came as a reaction to the court issuing arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant, in addition to three Hamas leaders.
The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, announced about two weeks ago that he had submitted requests to the court to issue arrest warrants on charges of committing war crimes and genocide, in connection with the aggression against Gaza and the October 7 attack.
Khan said that Netanyahu and Gallant bear responsibility for crimes against humanity in Gaza, and that the evidence concluded that Israeli officials deprived Palestinians of the basics of life, and that they were complicit in causing suffering and starvation of civilians in Gaza.
Political commentator and international affairs expert Asal Rad, speaking to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, considered that the House of Representatives’ vote to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court is “another example of American double standards,” and of lawmakers doing everything in their power to protect Israel from any accountability for war crimes. Which I committed.
While lawmakers urged the Biden administration to cooperate with the International Criminal Court in its prosecution of Putin for war crimes, they are now threatening an international court with punitive measures simply for doing its job, the expert says.
America’s relationship with the court
Although the United States and Israel are not members of the International Criminal Court, American officials expressed anger at the court’s approach, especially since it is the first time it has sought to prosecute an American ally.
The American position on the International Criminal Court is explained by Washington’s fear that American soldiers and politicians will be tried without American constitutional protection and international judges. Instead, Washington relies on its domestic laws and the War Crimes Act of 1996, a law that applies if one of the victims or perpetrator of a war crime is a US citizen or member of the US military.
Washington’s opposition to the International Criminal Court reached its peak during the administration of former President Donald Trump, as Washington pledged to impose sanctions on judges and prosecutors at the court if they began investigating what the court said was that “members of the US military and the CIA may have committed war crimes by torturing detainees in Afghanistan.” 2016.”
Indeed, Washington imposed sanctions on members of the court, and banned the bank accounts of former court president Fatou Bensouda, but relations began to improve with the start of the era of President Joe Biden, who pledged to respect the rules of international law, as Washington dropped the sanctions.
Agree with Israel
Although the White House strongly opposed imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court, and bipartisan talks in the House of Representatives about responding to the court’s moves against Israel collapsed, 42 Democratic members of the House of Representatives voted with Republicans in favor of the bill.
The vote became the latest in a growing series of controversial bills related to protecting Israel and “anti-Semitism,” which some Democratic leaders described as a deliberate GOP strategy to divide them.
Among the most important Democrats who voted in favor of the bill was Representative Elissa Slotkin, from Michigan, who is running for the state Senate seat, despite her previous balanced record on many issues.
Michael McCaul, Chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, said after the draft resolution was passed that they needed to act quickly, “because this case is already progressing much faster than expected.” Even the ICC staff themselves did not know that the subpoena requests would move forward at this pace. This is why we are introducing this bill now.
Speaking to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, expert Asal Rad said that “it is unlikely that the legislation will become a law,” and she justified this by saying that the Biden administration indicated that it does not support imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court, but it supports some type of unspecified measures.
She added that Biden administration officials condemned the International Criminal Court for seeking to issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials, and the actions of American lawmakers and the rhetoric issued by the Biden administration undermine the court and international law, which doubles the negative image of the United States due to its complicity with Israeli atrocities in Gaza.
The White House fears that US sanctions will push the International Criminal Court to pursue Israel more forcefully, and that the draft law will force the United States to impose sanctions on close allies who fund the court, their leaders, legislators, and American companies that provide services to the court.
In a tweet on the “X” platform, the American-Israeli Relations Committee (AIPAC) praised the House of Representatives’ decision, as the organization is one of the largest and most important Jewish lobby organizations in the United States, and contributes millions of dollars to financing the election campaigns of hundreds of candidates for both Houses of Congress, Representatives and Senate.
