US Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY) announced on Wednesday that he intends to vote in Congress for sanctions against the International Criminal Court after it issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The congressman explained the decision in a video statement: "The ICC’s decision to issue arrest warrants against the leadership of Israel represents the weaponization of international law at its most egregious. The ICC has set a precedent for criminalizing self-defense: any country daring to defend itself against an enemy that exploits civilians as human shields will face persecution posing as prosecution."
Torres noted: "The ICC ignores the cause and context of the war. Israel did not initiate the war. The war was imposed upon Israel by the unbridged barbarism of Hamas on October 7th. Not only did Hamas wage war on Israel, causing the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, it carefully constructed a battlefield designed to maximize the loss of civilian life. None of that context seems to matter to the kangaroo court of the ICC, which cannot let facts get in the way of its ideological crusade against the Jewish State.
"The ICC should be sanctioned not for enforcing the law but for distorting it beyond recognition," he concluded.
House Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Tuesday that the House will this week approve sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan.
"This week, the House will vote to impose sanctions on ICC officials and put the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, back in his place,” Johnson stated.
“[Khan] does not have jurisdiction over Israel or the United States, and it is outrageous that they’re issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant. The ICC is actually equating Israel and Hamas, as even as Hamas still holds Israelis and American hostages. It is just absurd,” added the House Speaker.
“The House will not tolerate rogue actors who circumvent international law to attack Israel and threaten America. We won’t do it,” Johnson made clear.