'Illegitimate Body': House Set To Pass Sanctions on Anti-Israel ICC This Week

The newly installed House, led by Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), is set to vote Thursday on legislation that would sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, over efforts to arrest Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to lawmakers and congressional sources briefed on the matter.

The legislation first passed the House in June with support from Republicans and 42 Democrats, but then-Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) did not bring it to the floor of the upper chamber for a vote. Its resurgence comes weeks after top Republicans—both in Congress and in the incoming White House—pledged to sanction the ICC and erode its international legitimacy upon taking power in the new year.

While President-elect Donald Trump could sanction the ICC on his own via executive order, a subsequent administration could then pull the sanctions. Should Congress pass the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, a future president could not unilaterally revoke the measure. With Republicans in control of 53 Senate seats, 7 Democrats would need to back the bill to clear the upper chamber's 60-vote threshold. The measure is one of the first bills expected to hit the Senate floor following Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration, according to Punchbowl News.

"While I have full confidence that President Trump will stand for Israel with the strength and moral clarity that Biden has sorely lacked, this bill will ensure that no future administration after him will be able to give the ICC a free pass to attack our allies like this," Rep. Chip Roy (R., Texas), who first introduced the ICC sanctions bill in June, told the Washington Free Beacon.

"The ICC is an illegitimate body that has no business interfering with our sovereignty or that of our allies," he continued. "If we do not check this rogue, leftist 'court' now, we can rest assured that our military leadership and troops will be the next targets of its political attacks."

In addition to Roy, Johnson and the newly elected chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Brian Mast (R., Fla.), back the sanctions measure, signaling that pro-Israel initiatives are an early priority for the new GOP majority.

"The House will not tolerate rogue actors who circumvent international law to attack Israel and threaten America. We won’t do it," Johnson said during a Tuesday press conference. The ICC bill was notably included in the House rules package passed last week, another sign that lawmakers intend to quickly move the legislation before Trump takes office.

The incoming administration is already crafting a series of executive orders that would complement the House measure, including "devastating" sanctions on individual ICC prosecutors, judges, and the institution at large. Some of these orders could be unveiled as soon as Jan. 21, according to Israeli reports, and are meant to pressure the ICC into rescinding its arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant.

Trump’s team is also working to secure assurances from U.S. allies that they will not comply with the ICC’s arrest warrants, effectively blunting their international impact.

Both Israel and the United States do not recognize the ICC’s jurisdiction, but the arrest warrants issued last year have made it difficult for Israeli leaders to freely travel the globe. The United Kingdom, for instance, has said it would arrest Netanyahu if he traveled there. Poland said it would arrest Netanyahu if he attended the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

The ICC’s critics, including Netanyahu and those in Congress, say the court is motivated by a deep anti-Israel bias that has plagued the institution for years. Its chief prosecutor, Khan, has accused Israel of genocide and attempted to equate Israel’s defensive actions in Gaza with those of the Hamas terrorists. Khan, meanwhile, is facing a separate inquiry into charges he sexually harassed a female colleague.

For the GOP’s new class of leaders, the ICC sanctions bill is seen as one of the first opportunities to shepherd a pro-Israel foreign policy that took a backseat during President Joe Biden’s term in office.

"As we head into the Trump administration, House Republicans are reaffirming our unwavering commitment to supporting our allies and putting America First," Rep. Claudia Tenney (R., N.Y.), one of the bill’s early backers, told the Free Beacon. "The House must immediately pass the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, which imposes sanctions on ICC officials actively working to undermine our allies, or it may target American citizens next."

Mast, the Foreign Affairs Committee’s new chairman, expressed a similar sentiment, saying that if the court is permitted to target Israel then America will be next.

"Our bill sends a clear message to the International Criminal Court," Mast said. "We may not recognize you, but you sure as hell will recognize what happens when you target America or its allies."

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