House Speaker Mike Johnson plans to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday about the International Criminal Court’s threat to issue “genocide” arrest warrants against him.
Mr. Johnson’s Republicans have taken a strong stance against the ICC’s threat to Mr. Netanyahu and are inching closer to introducing a bill to sanction the international court. The details of the sanctions bill or other possible punitive action against the ICC are still on the drawing board.
Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said they are working on the “fine points” of legislation to sanction the organization. He noted that he wants a vote on a bill as quickly as possible.
“I think we need to start to send a strong message to the world which is completely wildly inappropriate,” Mr. Johnson said. “We’re not going to stand for it.”
However, lawmakers are set to leave town for a weeklong recess on Thursday, giving Mr. Johnson little time to act.
Sanctions legislation has bipartisan support in the House, though Senate Democrats have been cool to the idea.
Backlash has grown since the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced Monday that he is seeking arrest warrants for Mr. Netanyahu and his defense minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders — Yehia Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh — that he accuses of committing war crimes.
Rep. Chip Roy, Texas Republican, has introduced legislation to sanction the ICC. He said the bill has gained traction among the GOP, but still needs tweaks to get ready for a vote.
Sen. James E. Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, also plans to introduce ICC sanctions legislation in the upper chamber.
The ICC’s arrest warrants are not finalized. It must be approved by a pretrial panel of three judges.
Mr. Johnson said that there was an irony in the ICC’s push for warrants against Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant because the organization has never tried to act against Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash this week.
U.S. officials have accused Iran of using Hamas, a longtime ally of the theocratic nation, to carry out the terrorist raid on Israel on Oct. 7, which killed more than 1,200 people in the Jewish state. Since then, tensions have escalated between the two countries, with Iran last month launching hundreds of drones and missiles on Israel.
“While he engaged in torture and terror, the International Criminal Court … never targeted him or even considered arrest,” Mr. Johnson said. “But instead, what we see right now, is the ICC has chosen to target Israel with these baseless and illegitimate arrest warrants, and it’s attempting to equate Israel’s just war for its existence with the horrific acts of Oct. 7.”
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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