Congresswoman Elaine Luria and Congressman Mike Gallagher spearheaded a bipartisan effort with over 260 members of Congress urging Secretary of State Pompeo to call on the International Criminal Court to halt its politically motivated investigations into the United States and Israel.
Last week, Secretary Pompeo heeded the call, and the president issued an executive order authorizing new sanctions and visa restrictions against ICC officials engaged with these investigations.
“I am pleased that the administration is joining Congress in condemning these politically motivated investigations being conducted by the ICC. The ICC was designed as a venue of last resort for the most serious international crimes, not fruitless investigations, which is why over 260 of my bipartisan colleagues joined my call for immediate action,” said Luria, D-Va. “This is yet another example of the international community’s disproportional attacks on Israel, and I look forward to working with the Administration to end these discriminatory campaigns.”
Recently, the ICC authorized formal investigations of Israeli military personnel for war crimes during the 2014 conflict with Gaza and of American military personnel for war crimes in Afghanistan—political decisions made despite the fact that neither the United States nor Israel is party to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC.
While the United States has supported the mission of the ICC, members of Congress now believe that politics has infiltrated the International Criminal Court.
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