(CNN) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that he wants to work with Congress on legislation that penalizes the International Criminal Court (ICC) after it requested arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. and the Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant.
“Given yesterday’s events, I think we need to consider appropriate measures to again address what is a profoundly misguided decision,” Blinken said at a State Department budget hearing with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. .
Blinken’s comments were a first indication of the Biden administration’s willingness to take action against the Netherlands-based court over its request for arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials.
The court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, also issued arrest warrants for senior Hamas officials, including its Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar.
Blinken was thus responding to questions from the commission’s ranking member, Republican Senator James Risch, who asked if Blinken would work with him on legislation that “includes the issue of the ICC poking its nose into the affairs of countries that have a legitimate and democratic independent judicial system”.
“The devil is in the details, so let’s see what you have, and we can take it from there,” Blinken said in response, adding that he wants to work with the commission “on a bipartisan basis.”
On Monday, the Biden administration came out strongly against Khan over his decision to seek arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“It’s clear that Israel wants to do everything possible to ensure the protection of civilians,” Biden said at a White House reception marking American Jewish Heritage Month. “Let me be clear: what is happening is not a genocide.”
Lawmakers from both parties on Monday condemned the ICC’s actions, and House Speaker Mike Johnson said House Republicans are studying the possibility of sanctioning the ICC.
“In the absence of leadership from the White House, Congress is reviewing all options, including sanctions, to punish the ICC and ensure its leaders face consequences if appropriate. If the ICC is allowed to threaten leaders Israelis, ours could be next,” Johnson said in a statement Monday.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has faced questions about its condemnation of the ICC’s actions while saying it continues to support the court’s investigation into Russian war crimes during its invasion of Ukraine.
“On the question of whether we will continue to support the ICC in relation to crimes committed in Ukraine, yes, we are still working on that,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Monday at a press conference following a meeting virtual Defense Contact Group on Ukraine.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a news conference Monday that the ICC has done “important work over the years to hold people accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity” that The US continues to support.
“We will have time to analyze it, digest it and perhaps issue a more complete response,” Miller said of the ICC requests.
The Trump administration previously sanctioned ICC officials by executive order in 2020 for their investigation of possible war crimes by U.S. military and intelligence officials in Afghanistan, sanctions that the Biden administration lifted the following year.
