US President Donald Trump has accused the International Criminal Court (ICC) of “illegal and unjustified actions against America and our close ally Israel,” US media reported on Thursday.
Trump has signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the ICC, according to the White House website. He said the ICC had “without legitimate basis” launched a preliminary investigation into the US and some of its allies, including Israel.
The court also issued “unwarranted” arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s former defence minister Yoav Galant, “abusing its power,” the US president pointed out. The ICC has no jurisdiction over the US and Israel, as neither country is a party to the Rome Statute or a member of the ICC.
According to Trump, the court’s actions against Israel and the US set a “dangerous precedent” and put at risk, including active military personnel, which threatens to encroach on the sovereignty of the United States and undermine the US government and its allies.
The US restrictions include, among other things, blocking the property and assets of those “responsible for violations of the ICC,” as well as a ban on entry to the US against officials, employees and agents of the court, as well as their immediate family members. Trump explained that the entry of these individuals into the United States could be detrimental to the country’s interests.
Netanyahu said Donald Trump’s executive order imposing sanctions on the ICC would protect Israeli and US sovereignty.
International Criminal Court against Israel
In November 2024, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defence Minister Yoav Galant for “crimes against humanity and war crimes” in connection with the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Republicans then initiated sanctions against the ICC last January. But Democrats blocked that bill last week.
Trump’s February 6 executive order is the second time the US has imposed sanctions on the ICC: the first time was in 2020, during Trump’s first term, when senior ICC officials involved in the investigation of US actions in Afghanistan were sanctioned. Washington found it unreasonable.
