US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Saturday threatened to sanction America’s allies if they sought to enforce the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
“To any ally—Canada, Britain, Germany, France—if you try to help the ICC, we’re going to sanction you,” Graham said in an interview with Fox News.
The US “should crush [their] economy, because we’re next,” he continued.
The ICC on Thursday issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant for alleged “crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024.”
In response, Graham called on US lawmakers to “act forcefully” against the court.
“Israel is not a member of the ICC nor is the United States. Israel has a very robust legal system and so does the United States. If we do not fight back against the ICC’s attack on Israel, it is as if we are conceding that they have jurisdiction over the United States,” he stated.
“We cannot let the world believe for a moment that this is a legitimate exercise of jurisdiction by the Court against Israel because to do so means we could be next,” he said, adding that countries could “expect consequences” if they assist the ICC in this regard.
The ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel as Jerusalem, like Washington, is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, which established the court. But in a legalistic sleight of hand, the court has asserted jurisdiction by accepting “Palestine” as a signatory in 2015, even though no such state is recognised under international law.
The 123 countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute are obligated to act on any arrest warrant it issues.
A host of European governments voiced their support for the Court in The Hague following its dramatic decision last week.
Josep Borrell, the European Union’s outgoing foreign-policy chief, claimed that the ruling was “not political” and should be respected.
“I take note of the decision of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu, the former minister of defense, Mr. Gallant, and the [assassinated] Hamas leader [Mohammed] Deif,” said Borrell.
“This decision is a binding decision on all states, all the state parties of the court, which include all members of the European Union,” he added.
The Hague’s top diplomat said the Dutch government would scrap all “non-essential contacts” with Netanyahu in response to the ICC ruling.
A French Foreign Ministry spokesperson informed AFP that Paris would respond in line with the court’s founding statutes, raising the possibility that Netanyahu and Gallant could be placed under arrest in France.
Asked by reporters at a press conference if Paris would move to arrest Netanyahu, spokesman Christophe Lemoine stated: “It’s a point that is legally complex, so I’m not going to comment on it today.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office stressed to The Telegraph that London respects the ICC’s autonomy, hailing the tribunal as “the primary institutional institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes in relation to international law.”
Petra De Sutter, Belgium’s deputy prime minister and a member of the far-left Green Party, called on other European nations to “impose economic sanctions, suspend the [E.U.] Association Agreement with Israel and uphold these arrest warrants.”
She tweeted: “War crimes and crimes against humanity cannot go unpunished.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a press conference on Thursday that he would have Netanyahu arrested if the premier arrives on Canadian soil.
“We stand up for international law, and we will abide by all the regulations and rulings of the international courts,” Trudeau added. “This is just who we are as Canadians.”