CNN
–
President Donald Trump signed a pair of executive orders on Thursday. One targeted the International Criminal Court for the second time on “anti-Christian prejudice.”
ICC Action imposes financial and visa sanctions on “individuals and their families who support ICC investigations in US citizens or our allies,” according to a fact sheet obtained by CNN. Authorities include Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense.
The Hague-based court condemned Trump’s executive order, saying it “seeks to impose sanctions on authorities and harm independence and impartial judicial activities.”
“The court will continue to provide justice and hope to its staff and millions of innocent victims around the world in all previous circumstances. It’s a solid representation,” the ICC said in a statement Friday.
The ICC warrant was condemned by then-President Joe Biden after it was issued last year, and following the attack on October 7, 2023, crimes against humanity and crimes against humanity against Israeli military action in Hamas Gaza, Hamas. He sought the arrest of Netanyahu and Gallant on charges. At the same time, the ICC called for the arrest of Top Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, who was later killed.
Critics say the warrants imply the equivalence between leaders of US allies and leaders of terrorist organizations. Neither the US nor Israel are parties to the ICC, but the warrant makes travel difficult to any of the 124 signatory countries that are forced to arrest Israeli leaders.
The Prime Minister’s Office dismissed the warrant as “absurd and anti-Semitic.”
Netanyahu’s ICC targeting also sparked backlash from Republicans and Democrats in Congress. Last month, the GOP-controlled House passed a bill sanctioning the ICC, but Senate Democrats blocked it from passing.
A spokesman for Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said on Thursday that Trump’s actions would not address Democrats’ concerns about the ICC’s work surrounding Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Leader Schumer makes it clear that the ICC needs to be reformed and reshaped due to deep bias against Israel,” Schumer reporter Angelo Roefalo said in a statement.
He continued, “This EO appears to contain strong provisions that go after the Israeli ICC, but Israel and Israel, which Democrats offered to amend to protect ICC jobs, and the Republican ICC bills that were attempting to amend. does not include any unrelated problematic external clauses. Putin.”
Netanyahu, who is in Washington, D.C., became the first foreign leader to visit Trump at the White House on Tuesday, appearing on his side at a joint press conference where the president announced that the US would “take over” Gaza. . strip. The two leaders have developed a complicated relationship, but Trump’s latest comments reinforce the impression that Israeli leaders enjoy far more broad authority from the US government.
Thursday’s move is not the first time Trump has approved the ICC. During his first term, he sanctions against ICC officials after the court opened up alleged war crimes in Afghanistan by the US and Afghan forces and alleged crimes and crimes committed by the Taliban against humanity. and approved visa restrictions.
Trump’s other executive orders on Thursday against “anti-Christian bias” were announced earlier in the day.
“Today, I am signing to sign that I will become the Attorney General (a great person and she is the great Attorney General, Pam Bondi. I said at an event tied to the national prayer breakfast.
This story has been updated with additional information.
