White House Opposes Sanctions Against International Criminal Court

The Biden administration doesn't support congressional calls to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) for threatening to issue arrest warrants against two senior Israeli officials, a White House official said May 28.

“We don’t believe that sanctions against the ICC is the right approach here,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. “We obviously don’t believe that the ICC has jurisdiction. We certainly don’t support these arrest warrants, and we’ve said that before. We don’t believe, though, that sanctioning the ICC is the answer.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., criticized the White House’s decision, saying it sets a “dangerous precedent” that will fail to protect Americans as well as Israelis. The “ICC should clearly be sanctioned for its outrageous and unfounded claims of authority,” Johnson tweeted.

Kirby's comments came a week after House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said May 22 that he was exploring possible legislation to sanction the court, whose prosecutor has said he will seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders, over the war in Gaza (see 2405220070). McCaul made his remarks at a hearing in which Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was willing to work with Congress to provide an “appropriate response” to the prosecutor’s decision.