The U.S. Senate Blocks Bill to Sanction the International Criminal Court in The Hague

The United States Senate did not pass a bill to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) in response to the court's ruling for the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, and the former Minister of Defense of the country. On Tuesday, February 9, the Senate voted on the bill, which had previously been approved by the House of Representatives, resulting in 54 votes in favor and 45 against. However, the bill needed 60 votes to pass in the 100-member Senate. The voting in the Senate was largely partisan, with almost all Democrats and independent senators voting against it, while Senator John Fetterman from Pennsylvania was the only Democrat who voted in favor alongside Republicans. Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat from Georgia, also did not vote on the bill. The bill, titled the 'Countering the Illegal Court Act,' would impose sanctions on the ICC for investigating, arresting, or prosecuting any citizen of the U.S. or allied countries, including Israel, which are not members of the court. The House of Representatives had previously approved the bill on January 20 with 243 votes in favor and 140 against, with 45 Democrats voting alongside Republicans. Senate Democrats stated that while they agree with much of the bill, it is too broad and risks sanctioning lower-level ICC staff and creating a rift between Washington and its key allies. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, accused the ICC of 'bias against Israel' while urging his colleagues to vote against the bill. He explained that the bill has many flaws that could even lead to sanctions against American companies, such as those assisting the ICC in protecting itself from foreign hacker attacks. The ICC announced on November 22 that it had issued an international arrest warrant against the Prime Minister and the then Minister of Defense of Israel for 'war crimes' and 'crimes against humanity' due to the Gaza war. This was the first time in the history of this UN-affiliated court that such a warrant was issued against leaders of a democratic government. In its initial response to the ruling, Israel claimed that the ICC was pursuing its leaders with 'anti-Semitic' intentions and that Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, the ICC's chief prosecutor, acted 'maliciously' against Israel. At that time, Michael Waltz, who now serves as the National Security Advisor at the White House, wrote on social media that the ICC should be prepared for a 'hard response' from the U.S. following the election of Donald Trump.