In November, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant – both accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Now Donald Trump is responding with sanctions – but not against the Israeli war criminals, but against the court that allegedly threatens the US and its allies.
“I, Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America, find that the International Criminal Court (ICC), as established by the Rome Statute, has engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel”, the President writes in his decree.
“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”, it further claims.
Trump is careful to point out that the ICC has no jurisdiction over either the US or Israel because neither country has ratified the Rome Statute, is a member of the ICC or has recognized the court.
“Both nations are thriving democracies with militaries that strictly adhere to the laws of war”, the presidential order continues.
President Trump has signed sanctions on the ICC. Last May, I asked chief prosecutor Karim Khan about possible retaliation for seeking arrest warrants. “We’re not going to be dissuaded by threats,” he told me then. “We have to fulfil our responsibilities as prosecutors… to… pic.twitter.com/GtCyIk16C6
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) February 6, 2025
“Significant consequences”
It can be noted that Trump’s move comes in the context of Netanyahu’s visit to the US President in Washington, where the two also unveiled the plan to turn Gaza into American territory and permanently displace the entire Palestinian population.
According to Trump, the ICC’s actions against Israel and the US “set a dangerous precedent” and “undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States Government and our allies, including Israel”.
“The United States will impose tangible and significant consequences on those responsible for the ICC’s transgressions, some of which may include the blocking of property and assets, as well as the suspension of entry into the United States of ICC officials, employees, and agents, as well as their immediate family members, as their entry into our Nation would be detrimental to the interests of the United States”, he continued.
“Final solution”
According to local authorities, nearly 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during the Israeli invasion – the majority of them women and children. Many more have been injured or are reported missing and a majority of the territory’s population is now internally displaced.
Trump’s continued close alliance with Israel and the ethnic cleansing of Gaza is also facing harsh criticism, including from American journalist Max Blumenthal, who argues that the American people hardly benefit from funding or participating in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians:
Trump’s pledge to “take over” Gaza offered a rare opportunity to hear an American president articulate the logic of Zionism in its rawest, most essential form. The history of Israel is defined by a continuous process of controlling and removing the Palestinian population by…
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) February 5, 2025
”Now, Trump has vowed to carry out the Final Solution on Israel’s behalf, and possibly with US troops. Israelis love his genocidal energy, with 80% telling the Jerusalem Post they favor Trump’s plan, and only 13% declaring it ‘immoral’. Average Americans might be less enthusiastic about embarking on a foreign ethnic cleansing adventure, but as this episode makes undeniably clear, they are not the ones who determine their government’s policy when it comes to the ‘Jewish and democratic’ state“.
