President Donald Trump reportedly issued an executive order on Thursday that imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The order stated that the ICC had participated in measures that were unlawful and without foundation, and that these efforts targeted the United States of America and Israel, which is a close partner of ours.
“The ICC has, without a legitimate basis, asserted jurisdiction over and opened preliminary investigations concerning personnel of the United States and certain of its allies, including Israel, and has further abused its power by issuing baseless arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant,” the order announced.
“The ICC has no jurisdiction over the United States or Israel, as neither country is party to the Rome Statute or a member of the ICC. … The ICC’s recent actions against Israel and the United States set a dangerous precedent, directly endangering current and former United States personnel, including active service members of the Armed Forces, by exposing them to harassment, abuse, and possible arrest. This malign conduct in turn threatens to infringe upon the sovereignty of the United States and undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States Government and our allies, including Israel.” it continued.
In November of 2017, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, submitted a request for authorization to examine allegations of crimes committed by the United States Armed Forces in Afghanistan.
The Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, which was presented by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast (R-FL) and Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) to sanction the International Criminal Court, was passed from the House of Representatives by Republicans at the beginning of January.
Democratic senators in the Senate prevented Republicans from approving a resolution that would have sanctioned the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the end of January.
The bill received 54 votes, with all Republicans and Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) voting in favor of it; nonetheless, it required 60 votes to be approved.
[READ MORE: Fetterman Vows to Vote Against Gabbard, RFK Jr.]
