Israel and the ICC on the warpath. Washington imposes sanctions to pursue Netanyahu

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Thursday the imposition of sanctions on two judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague in connection with their actions against Israeli citizens. The ICC said the move constituted a “blatant attack” on its independence.

Gocha Lordkipanidze from Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin from Mongolia were subject to sanctions. “These individuals were directly involved in the ICC's efforts to track, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli citizens without Israel's consent, including voting with the majority for the International Criminal Court's decision rejecting Israel's appeal on December 15,” Rubio wrote.

“The ICC continues to engage in political actions against Israel, which sets a dangerous precedent for all states,” he added.

We will not tolerate abuses of power by the ICC that violate the sovereignty of the United States and Israel and unjustly subject U.S. and Israeli citizens to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, said the U.S. Secretary of State. He noted that the US and Israel are not parties to the Rome Statute and therefore reject the jurisdiction of the ICC.

In response to the decision to impose sanctions, the ICC stated that “such measures against judges and prosecutors elected by States Parties (to the Rome Statute) undermine the rule of law.”

“When judicial authorities are at risk for applying the law, the international legal order itself is at risk,” he added.

In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and the commander of the Palestinian organization Hamas, Mohammed Deif, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the war in the Gaza Strip and the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

In February this year The US imposed sanctions on ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan over the Court's arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galant. Khan's assets in the US were frozen and he was banned from entering that country. The US also sanctioned the judges who were responsible for issuing these arrest warrants by the ICC.

From Washington Natalia Dziurdzińska (PAP)

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