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Senate Democrats on Tuesday voted to filibuster a Republican-led bill aimed at sanctioning officials from the International Criminal Court (ICC), CNN reported.
The proposed legislation sought to penalize the ICC for issuing arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who have been accused by the ICC accused them of committing war crimes during and after the Hamas October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
The legislation, which was approved by the House of Representatives on January 9, targets any foreigner involved in investigating, arresting, detaining, or prosecuting US citizens or those of allied nations that are not ICC members, including Israel.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune criticized the ICC's decision, arguing that equating Israeli leaders with Hamas was “beyond the pale.”
Democrats, concerned that opposing the bill might be framed as being anti-Israel, deliberated extensively before taking action. Ultimately, only Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a staunch supporter of Israel, voted in favor of the measure.
The final vote count was 54-45, falling short of the 60 votes required to advance the bill.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed his opposition to the bill shortly before the vote, labeling it “poorly drafted and deeply troublesome.”
Schumer criticized Republicans for refusing to make minor changes to the legislation that could have secured Democratic support.ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan recently defended his decision to pursue an arrest warrant against Netanyahu, claiming that Israel had made “no real effort” to independently investigate claims that it committed war crimes.
“We're here as a court of last resort and... as we speak right now, we haven’t seen any real effort by the State of Israel to take action that would meet the established jurisprudence, which is investigations regarding the same suspects for the same conduct,” Khan claimed to Reuters.
“That can change, and I hope it does,” he added, speaking after Israel and Hamas agreed on a ceasefire in Gaza.