Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., warned the International Criminal Court on Sunday that the U.S. will impose sanctions if it proceeds with arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials.
"If the ICC and its prosecutor do not reverse their outrageous and unlawful actions to pursue arrest warrants against Israeli officials, the Senate should immediately pass sanctions legislation, as the House has already done on a bipartisan basis," Thune wrote on X.
Thune was elected last week by his fellow Republicans to lead the GOP in the upper chamber, taking over from the outgoing Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
In June, the House passed a bill to sanction the ICC for requesting arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The vote passed 247-155, with 205 Republicans supporting the measure alongside 42 Democrats. The ICC also sought arrest warrants for several Hamas leaders including Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israel in October.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who introduced the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, released a statement last week, saying: "The International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction in Israel and its illegal pursuit of Israeli officials is built on a lie.
"Any attempt by kangaroo court prosecutor Karim Khan to threaten the United States or our allies should be seen as an act of aggression and face swift retaliation. A bipartisan majority in the House has passed a bill to sanction Karim Khan and anyone else involved in any U.S., Israeli, or other allied citizen being wrongfully targeted by the ICC. Chuck Schumer should immediately bring this up for a vote in the Senate."
The bill was to impose strong economic sanctions and visa restrictions to individuals and judges associated with the ICC, including their family members. The Biden administration and other Democrats had opposed the measure, calling it "overly broad" and warning that it would disrupt those Americans and U.S. companies that work with the court.
Although the White House opposed the perceived moral equivalency the court was making between Israel and Hamas leaders, it nonetheless rejected the pursuit of sanctions.
"We don't believe that sanctioning the ICC is the answer," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said during a press briefing in June.
Thune concluded his post by saying he would be happy for current Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to pass the sanctions legislation but if he doesn't, "the Senate Republican majority will stand with our key ally Israel and make this — and other supportive legislation — a top priority in the next Congress."