Visa bans for ICC officials urged by bipartisan senators after Israel arrest warrant requests

FIRST ON FOX: A bipartisan group of senators is proposing multiple actions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) following the body’s decision to request warrants for Israeli officials. 

A resolution led by Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., that was exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital would recommend that President Biden and Congress “impose financial sanctions and visa bans on officials of the International Criminal Court for an abuse of power that threatens United States interests and weakens United States allies.”

The measure is co-sponsored by Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Susan Collins, R-Maine, Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, Steve Daines, R-Mont., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., John Hoeven, R-N.D., Roger Wicker, R-Miss., John Kennedy, R-La., and Rick Scott, R-Fla.

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Sens. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, inset left, and Mike Rounds, a Republican, are leading a bipartisan group on a resolution rejecting the ICC’s Israel warrant requests and proposing sanctions on the body. (Getty images)

The resolution would express officially that the Senate “stands with Israel and fully rejects the action by the International Criminal Court against senior Israeli officials.”

It would additionally encourage allies and partners, which the senators note are responsible in large part for funding the ICC, “to use their leverage to halt the politicized proceedings.” 

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Earlier this week, the ICC officially filed applications for arrest warrants against both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in addition to those against terrorist group Hamas’ leaders for committing “war crimes.”

Numerous U.S. lawmakers and President Biden reacted negatively to the ICC’s move, particularly taking issue with any equating of Israel, a democracy, to Hamas, a recognized terrorist organization. 

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Karim Khan is the ICC’s chief prosecutor. (Getty Images)

Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office did not provide comment to Fox News Digital when prompted on if he would bring the resolution to the floor. 

The ICC did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. 

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke out against the ICC’s announcement to pursue an arrest warrant against him over alleged war crimes in Gaza. (Government Press Office)

After the court revealed the warrant requests, Biden denounced them, calling the move “outrageous.”

“And let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas.  We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security,” Biden said in a statement. 

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The ICC is located in The Hague, Netherlands. (Photo by Selman Aksunger/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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ICC prosecutor Karim Khan claimed in the request that there were “reasonable grounds” to suggest that both Netanyahu and Gallant had committed war crimes, including using “starvation of civilians as a method of warfare” and “intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population.” 

“This is a rogue prosecutor who’s gone amok,” Netanyahu claimed in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. He’s out to demonize the one and only Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East, and it’s both false and dangerous.”