Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Monday slammed reports that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is planning on issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials.
In a statement, Johnson called the reported arrest warrants illegitimate and said, “Instead of wrongly targeting Israel,” the ICC should redirect its focus to Hamas and other Iran-aligned terror groups and prosecute them “for engaging in horrific war crimes.”
“It is disgraceful that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is reportedly planning to issue baseless and illegitimate arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials,” Johnson said in a statement.
“Such a lawless action by the ICC would directly undermine U.S. national security interests,” he continued. “If unchallenged by the Biden administration, the ICC could create and assume unprecedented power to issue arrest warrants against American political leaders, American diplomats, and American military personnel, thereby endangering our country’s sovereign authority.”
His statement comes amid reports that Israeli officials increasingly believe that the ICC is preparing to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials as well as perhaps for Hamas leaders.
The New York Times reported that Israeli officials could be accused of “preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip” and for “pursuing an excessively harsh response” following Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7, according to the Times reporting.
Israel’s foreign ministry said late Sunday that it had informed Israeli missions of “rumors” that warrants might be issued against senior political and military officials, The Associated Press reported.
The Biden administration on Monday made clear that it did not support the investigation and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday that the administration does not believe that the ICC has jurisdiction over the situation.
“We’ve been really clear about the ICC investigation. We do not support it. We don’t believe that they have the jurisdiction. And I’m just going to leave it there for now,” she said.
While neither Israel nor the United States accept the ICC’s jurisdiction, potential warrants could put Israeli officials at risk in other countries, the AP reported.
“The Biden Administration must immediately and unequivocally demand that the ICC stand down and the U.S. should use every available tool to prevent such an abomination,” Johnson wrote in his statement.
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