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By Andrew Stanton
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House Speaker Mike Johnson has warned that the International Criminal Court (ICC) could target U.S. leaders after it said Monday it plans to seek an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The ICC is pursuing arrest warrants for both Netanyahu and the Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, for their actions in the ongoing war in the territory. The charges against Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are "causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict."
In a statement Monday, Johnson, a Louisiana Republican who has voiced support for Israel, criticized the ICC for seeking arrest warrants against Netanyahu as well as other Israeli leaders and suggested U.S. leaders could follow.
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"In the absence of leadership from the White House, Congress is reviewing all options, including sanctions, to punish the ICC and ensure its leadership faces consequences if they proceed. If the ICC is allowed to threaten Israeli leaders, ours could be next," he said.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants launched an attack against southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage. In the months that followed, Israel's offensive has killed more than 34,800 Palestinians in Gaza, the Associated Press reports, citing the Gaza Ministry of Health. More than 80 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced in the conflict.
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Israeli leaders insist the offensive is necessary to defeat Hamas and protect their country from further attacks. But humanitarian organizations across the globe have raised concerns about the rising death toll in Israel's offensive, accusing its government of human rights abuses against Palestinian civilians.
In his statement, Johnson said: "The ICC has no authority over Israel or the United States, and today's baseless and illegitimate decision should face global condemnation. International bureaucrats cannot be allowed to use lawfare to usurp the authority of democratic nations that maintain the rule of law."
Newsweek reached out to the ICC for comment via email. Reached by Newsweek, a spokesperson for Johnson declined further comment.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded to the warrants in a statement on Monday.
"We reject the Prosecutor's equivalence of Israel with Hamas," he said. "It is shameful. Hamas is a brutal organization that carried out the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and is still holding dozens of innocent people hostage, including Americans."
Others, however, expressed support for the ICC's action.
"If Netanyahu comes to address Congress, I would be more than glad to show the ICC the way to the House floor to issue that warrant. Ditto for Hamas leader. Ceasefire. No offensive weapons. Food, water & medicine must get through," wrote Representative Mark Pocan, a Wisconsin Democrat, in a post to X (formerly Twitter).
Cenk Uygur, the host of the YouTube show The Young Turks, posted, "Now that Netanyahu is an international war criminal, are we still going to send him endless money? I know the answer. Of course, we are. If there is a future where decency has won, it will judge us very harshly for what we're doing now to aid and abet Israel down this dark path."
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