South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune has issued a stern warning to the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding its pursuit of an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Thune, who is set to become the Senate Majority Leader in 2025, threatened to impose sanctions on the ICC if it does not drop the application for the arrest warrant.
The ICC had recently sought arrest warrants against Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas terrorists for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity following attacks in October 2023. Thune's stance aligns with a bill introduced by Sen. Tom Cotton, which calls for sanctions against prosecutors targeting U.S., Israeli, or allied citizens wrongfully.
The U.S. has a history of opposing ICC actions, as seen in the Trump administration's sanctions against ICC prosecutors in 2020. These sanctions, which included asset freezing and travel bans, had far-reaching implications, causing uncertainty for organizations and individuals associated with the ICC.
Richard Goldberg, a former White House National Security Council member, suggested that targeting the ICC as a whole might be more effective than focusing on individual prosecutors. He emphasized the potential impact of cutting off the ICC's access to funds, which could lead other countries like Japan and Germany to pressure the ICC to reconsider its actions.
While decisions on arrest warrants by the ICC typically occur within three months, the timeline for the current case remains uncertain. The last similar instance involved an application against Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2023, with a decision reached within a month.
