On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) in response to its investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
This move comes amid heightened tensions surrounding the ICC’s recent actions, which have targeted Israel, a close ally of the United States.
Neither the U.S. nor Israel is a member of the ICC, and both countries have long refused to recognize its authority.
The court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, accusing him of war crimes related to Israel’s military response in Gaza following the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023.
The Israeli military’s operations have resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians, including numerous children.
Trump’s executive order strongly condemns the ICC, accusing the court of carrying out “illegitimate and baseless actions” targeting both the U.S. and Israel.
The order criticises the ICC for abusing its powers by issuing what it deems “baseless arrest warrants” against Netanyahu and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant.
It asserts that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the two nations and that its actions have set a dangerous precedent.
The timing of the order is significant, as Netanyahu was in Washington for meetings with U.S. lawmakers and Trump, following a series of discussions with officials at the White House.
The executive order further states that the U.S. will impose “tangible and significant consequences” on individuals responsible for the ICC’s actions, including potential sanctions such as freezing assets and barring ICC officials and their families from entering the U.S.
The decision has drawn sharp criticism from human rights organizations. Charlie Hogle, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project, expressed concern that such sanctions would undermine efforts to secure justice for victims of human rights abuses worldwide.
Hogle also raised First Amendment concerns, suggesting that the order could penalize individuals in the U.S. who assist the court in investigating atrocities. Sarah Yager from Human Rights Watch also criticized the move, calling it an attack on both accountability and free speech.
The United States, alongside Israel, has long been skeptical of the ICC. In 2002, a U.S. law was passed granting the Pentagon the authority to free any American or U.S. ally detained by the court.
In 2020, Trump imposed sanctions on ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda for attempting to open an investigation into war crimes in Afghanistan, which included potential U.S. involvement.
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However, those sanctions were lifted under former President Joe Biden, and the U.S. began to engage more cautiously with the ICC, especially after the court’s 2023 war crimes charges against Russian President Vladimir Putin for his role in the Ukraine conflict.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a vocal critic of the ICC, voiced strong opposition to the court’s actions against Israel, calling it a “rogue court” and vowing to combat both the ICC and any nation attempting to enforce the arrest warrant against Netanyahu. Graham stressed his belief that the ICC’s legal theory against Israel could set a dangerous precedent, implying that the U.S. could be next.
Both Trump and his former national security adviser, Mike Waltz, have echoed concerns about the ICC’s perceived bias against Israel, with Waltz accusing the court of antisemitism.
The unfolding situation highlights the deep divisions between the U.S. and the ICC, with both nations continuing to reject the court’s jurisdiction and challenging its authority over war crime investigations involving their leaders.
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