US House Speaker Mike Johnson condemned the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, calling the move antisemitic.
"The ICC’s decision to target America’s ally, Israel, is antisemitic, reprehensible, and completely ridiculous. It has absolutely no jurisdiction over Israel or the United States, and these illegitimate warrants are an attack on the very concepts of sovereignty and due process," Johnson wrote.
"The U.S. Senate should vote immediately on the bipartisan Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, and President Biden should take clear steps to prevent these warrants from being enforced. If Senator Schumer and President Biden do not act now, they will most assuredly invite future lawfare against Israel and the United States. We cannot afford to show weakness," he added.
Yesterday (Thursday), the ICC issued arrest warrants this afternoon (Thursday) against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant.
The ICC claimed that there is a "reasonable" belief that Netanyahu and Gallant committed war crimes.
The announcement stated that Netanyahu and Gallant "bear criminal responsibility for crimes, including shared participation in acts committed with others – war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity, including murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts."
In addition, "Netanyahu and Gallant each bear individual criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentional attack against a civilian population," it was written.
US officials, including President Joe Biden, condemned the ICC announcement.
Earlier, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stressed that the administration rejects the ICC decision and disagrees with other countries that accepted the decision.
"We are not going to be executing any arrest warrants, that is not something we are going to do from here," she stated.
She noted that the US believes the process was flawed and explained: "In contrast to how he (the prosecutor) has treated others, including (Venezuelan President) Nicolás Maduro and his associates, he failed to provide Israel with a meaningful opportunity to engage constructively and to properly consider its domestic processes. This calls into question the credibility of the prosecutor's investigation and the decision today.
Jean-Pierre added that "we believe, and we've been clear, that the ICC does not have the jurisdiction over this matter. So we've been very clear about that and that stance has not changed."