The United States on Thursday, June 5th, imposed sanctions on four judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) including over an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The four judges in The Hague, all women, will be barred entry to the United States and any property or other interests in the world’s largest economy will be blocked.
“The United States will take whatever actions we deem necessary to protect our sovereignty, that of Israel, and any other U.S. ally from illegitimate actions by the ICC,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
Israel’s Netanyahu welcomed the move. “Thank you President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio for imposing sanctions against the politicised judges of the ICC. You have justly stood up for the right of Israel,” he wrote on Friday.
The court found “reasonable grounds” of criminal responsibility by Netanyahu and former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant for actions that include the war crime of starvation as a method of war in the massive offensive in Gaza following the October 7, 2023 Hamas pogrom.
