The House of Representatives passed a bill that would levy sanctions on ICC officials if the court went after Israeli officials.
Forty-two House Democrats voted with Republicans on a bill to sanction the International Criminal Court in response to its top prosecutor seeking arrest warrants against top Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The bill, led by Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Brian Mast, R-Fla., passed along bipartisan lines in a 247-155 vote on Tuesday. Two Republicans voted „present“ on the bill, while the remaining 205 voting GOP lawmakers voted in favor of it. The 155 votes in opposition to the bill all came from Democrats.
The modest left-wing support comes despite the White House releasing a statement in opposition to the bill – though the Biden administration stopped short of threatening to veto the measure.
„There are more effective ways to defend Israel, preserve U.S. positions on the ICC, and promote international justice and accountability, and the Administration stands ready to work with the Congress on those options,“ the White House said in a statement on Monday.
House lawmakers were engaged in bipartisan talks last month to respond to the ICC after chief prosecutor Karim Khan said he would seek arrest warrants against both Israeli and Hamas officials over the war in Gaza.
