Congress Is Voting to Sanction the ICC for Holding Israel Accountable

IMEU Policy Project Memo #14

House GOP leadership is bringing to a vote this week H.R.23, a partisan bill to reimpose Trump-era sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) for seeking to hold Israeli leaders accountable for their actions against Palestinians in Gaza, which leading human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have concluded amount to the crimes of genocide and extermination.

This same bill was also opposed by the Biden administration in the last Congress. 

H.R.23 would impose mandatory sanctions on anyone, along with all of their immediate family members, who assists or supports in any way the ICC investigating, arresting, detaining, or prosecuting officials of the US, NATO-member countries, or major non-NATO allies. These sanctions include denying and revoking visas and blocking property transactions. The bill would also rescind any funds already obligated to the ICC and block future appropriations to support its work.

Instead of working to hold alleged war criminals accountable, H.R.23 instead proposes to sanction those trying to hold accountable alleged war criminals and to enable alleged war criminals to get away scot free. This bill undermines the principle of international justice for alleged perpetrators of the most heinous crimes under international law.   

H.R.23 is also factually incorrect: the ICC does have jurisdiction over actions that take place in Occupied Palestinian Territory–the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip–because of the State of Palestine’s accession to the Rome Statute (see below for details). 

While millions of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, go bankrupt from medical bills, and experience homelessness, the disconnect from the concerns of the American people and the heartlessness of the extremist MAGA agenda is on full display during the first week of the 119th Congress. From legislation to indefinitely imprison undocumented children who are merely accused of petty crimes to enabling Israel’s ongoing genocidal violence against Palestinian children who are being bombed, starved, and frozen to death, Congress must reject these extremist bills. 

Topline 

Congress should not sanction the ICC because:

• Obstructing the ICC from pursuing accountability for those charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity compromises the stated commitment of the US to center human rights in foreign policy.

• Condemning the ICC for seeking to hold Israeli leaders accountable for their actions demonstrates blatant hypocrisy as President Biden stated that the ICC’s arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin was “justified”. If Russian leaders should be held accountable for their war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine, then so too should Israeli leaders for their actions in the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

• By reimposing sanctions on the ICC, as was done through Executive Order by President Trump, Congress would further eviscerate the post-World War II global human rights rules-based order through its protection of Israel’s manifestly illegal actions in Gaza.

• The ICC is seeking to hold all actors accountable for their actions. Applying the same set of standards to all is moral, legal, and political consistency.

• Contrary to the false assertions of the Biden administration and some Members of Congress, the ICC does have jurisdiction to seek accountability for actions committed in Occupied Palestinian Territory by virtue of the State of Palestine’s acceptance of the ICC’s jurisdiction and its accession to the Rome Statute in 2015.

Details

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) sought full membership in the UN in 2012 in large measure to join international bodies such as the ICC. The Obama administration used the threat of a US veto in the Security Council to block Palestine’s full membership; however, the General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to make Palestine a permanent non-member observer state. This status nevertheless enabled Palestine to join international bodies.

In 2015, the State of Palestine accepted the ICC’s jurisdiction and acceded to the Rome Statute. These acts gave the court jurisdiction over actions committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. In 2018, the State of Palestine referred to the prosecutor a request to investigate actions by Israel contrary to the Rome Statute, including its construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank and its blockade of and previous attacks against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The ICC has been conducting an investigation into this referral since 2019 and announced in November 2023 that its investigation would extend to acts committed since October 7.

The ICC’s investigation of Israel was the primary reason for President Trump imposing sanctions against the ICC in 2020. In Executive Order 13928, the US revoked the ability of ICC officials and family members to enter the US and blocked their property in the US. These sanctions also extended to anyone who assisted the ICC.

Shortly after taking office, President Biden rescinded Trump’s Executive Order. In Executive Order 14022, issued in April 2021, Biden argued correctly that sanctioning the ICC was “not an effective or appropriate strategy”. 

The reimposition of ICC sanctions would be nothing less than a blatant and hypocritical effort to pressure the court to not hold accountable Israeli officials for their actions even as the US has viewed the court as a vehicle to hold accountable other alleged perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their actions.

It is important to note that some Members of Congress have supported the ICC holding Israeli leaders accountable for their actions. For example, Sen. Bernie Sanders stated: “The ICC prosecutor is right to take these actions. These arrest warrants may or may not be carried out, but it is imperative that the global community uphold international law. Without these standards of decency and morality, this planet may rapidly descend into anarchy, never-ending wars, and barbarism.”

For further information, please see these publications from our affiliated organization the Institute for Middle East Understanding:

• Accountability for Russia, Impunity for Israel in US Policy | IMEU Policy Analysis #6

• Why Israel Must Be Held Accountable for Policies toward the Gaza Strip| IMEU Policy Analysis #4 

Photo: oliverdelahaye under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.