Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham wants a forceful response to American allies who might comply with an international court order to arrest Israeli leaders Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the prime minister and former defense minister for “intentionally direct[ing] attacks against the civilian population of Gaza” on Wednesday. The United States is not a member of the ICC and the Biden administration dismissed the warrants as “outrageous” on Thursday.
The 124 member nations of the ICC could well arrest the Israeli leader and Gaza war architect if they set foot on their soil, a possibility Sen. Graham rebuked in on Friday while stopping by Fox News' "Hannity."
“If you are going to help the ICC, as a nation, enforce the arrest warrant against Bibi and Gallant, the former Defense Minister, I will put sanctions on you as a nation,” Graham warned. “You’re gonna have to pick the rogue ICC versus America.”
Graham added that he's "working with Tom Cotton" on an act that would sanction any nation who aided in the arrest of "any politician in Israel."
"We should crush your economy because we’re next,” Graham said. “Why can’t they go after Trump or any other American president under this theory?
Many of the US’s closest trading partners are committed to abiding by the ruling. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the country had an obligation to uphold the warrant, as did leaders in Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and other American allies in Europe.
"To any ally, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, if you try to help the ICC, we’re gonna sanction you,” Graham said on Friday.
Sanctions are carried out by the executive branch, not the Senate, but some inside the upcoming Trump administration have expressed similar disdain for the ICC’s findings. Incoming national security advisor Mike Waltz blasted the top international court and promised a “strong response” to arrest warrants for the pair.
“The ICC has no credibility and these allegations have been refuted by the US government,” Waltz wrote in a Thursday post to X. “You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC and UN come January.”
During his first administration, Trump was a vocal critic of the ICC, imposing severe sanctions on its prosecutors and judges for looking into potential American war crimes in Afghanistan.
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