Washington, DC – The Democrats of the US Senate have blocked the adoption of a bill which would sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) on its issuance of arrest mandates against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant For alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Tuesday’s vote saw the bill win 54 votes in favor and 45 opposed, below the 60 votes required to go to a final vote.
The United Nations experts, European officials and the current and former presidents of the ICC management organization have all opposed the bill, warning that he would establish a dangerous precedent at a time of increased importance for international legal order.
But many Democrats who voted against the measure have still accused the Court of having taken unjust measures against Israel by issuing mandates against Netanyahu and Gallant. The court simultaneously issued a mandate mandate for the commander of Hamas, Mohammed Deif, for his role in the attack of October 7, 2023, against southern Israel.
The ICC has denied prejudices in its actions.
Speaking before the vote, Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Democratic Party in the Senate controlled by the Republican, said that the bill on sanctions was “the one I support largely and that I would like to see the law”.
“However, as much as I oppose the bias of the ICC against Israel, as much as I want to see that the institution has radically reformed and reshaped, the bill which is badly written is badly written and deep allies and companies which deal with the court.
He called on the Republicans to return to the negotiating table to modify the language of the legislation.
Speaking on the floor of the Senate in support of the bill, the head of the majority of the Senate, John Thune, a Republican, said that the targeting of a “close American ally should concern us all.”
“While the ICC is targeting the Israelis today, it could easily target Americans,” he said.
Senator John Fetterman was the only democrat to vote in favor of legislation. He quickly won the praise of the American Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the very influential pro-Israeli lobby.
In an article on the social media platform X, the group thanked Fetterman for its “pro-Israeli leaders in principle and for having remained with Israel against the baseless attacks of the ICC”.
In the past, President Donald Trump has taken a hard line against the ICC, imposing sanctions on his civil servants in 2020 to fear that the Tribunal is surrendering that US military actions abroad.
The administration of former president Joe Biden then revoked this order, but Trump canceled Biden’s decision to take office last week.
Until now, its move has been symbolic, because the overthrow has not automatically reimed the sanctions.
‘Culture of impunity’
Neither the United States nor Israel are parties to the status of Rome, which established the ICC.
However, the court argued that because the alleged war crimes occurred in Gaza, Israeli officials could be held responsible for their actions.
Palestine’s state has been a member of the ICC since 2015.
The court had used a similar argument in the issuance of arrest mandates against Russian officials for alleged abuses in Ukraine, a move greeted by American officials at the time. Russia has not gone to the ICC, but Ukraine is.
By issuing mandates against Netanyahu and Gallant, the CPI prosecutors argued that Israeli restrictions using Gaza, including water and medicine, were equivalent to famine as a method of war.
The two Israeli officials were also accused of crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution, as well as war crime to direct attacks on civilians.
To date, the War of Israel in Gaza has killed 47,354 Palestinians, while moving almost the entire population of the enclave. There has been a tenuous ceasefire since January 19.
The ICC also asked for mandates for Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, and her senior manager in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, before the two men were killed in Israeli strikes.
Earlier this month, UN experts called on the US Senate to reject the bill after its adoption by the House of Representatives controlled by the Republican.
“It is shocking to see a country who considers himself a champion of the rule of law trying to thwart the actions of an independent and impartial court implemented by the international community, to thwart responsibility,” said experts .
They added that ICC threats “promote a culture of impunity”.
In an article published on Monday by the Safety website Just, current and former presidents of the Assembly of the parties of the International Criminal Court, the organization that manages the Court, warned that sanctions could “seriously hinder” minus 20 surveys around the world.
“Although the challenges remain, we are attached to the vision of the justice of the ICC and its mandate to guarantee that no one is above the law, whatever the power,” they wrote.
“The efforts to undermine the ICC are attacks against the principle according to which the law protects the weak from the powerful.”
