On Tuesday, Senate Democrats blocked a bill that would sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) over its arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for their role in the genocidal war in Gaza.
The bill, which had already passed through the House, needed 60 votes to advance through the Republican-controlled Senate, but it failed in a vote of 54-45. Every Republican voted in favor, but the bill only received support from one Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman (PA), who has been extremely supportive of Israel’s campaign in Gaza.
“Deeply disappointed by the outcome of the ICC sanctions bill,” Fetterman wrote on X after the vote. “My vote follows Israel—not the ICC that equivocated the democratically elected leader of our special ally to the terrorists and rapists of Hamas.”
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’s military wing. The court sought warrants for two other Hamas leaders — Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh — but they were both killed by Israel before the warrants were actually issued.
Congress is still expected to pass some sort of legislation to sanction the ICC since Democratic leadership wants to punish the court for investigating Israeli war crimes but thought the bill brought to the floor on Tuesday was too broad and could lead to sanctions against US allies that are ICC member states.
“The ICC bill is one I largely support and would like to see become law,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said ahead of the vote. “However, as much as I oppose the ICC bias against Israel, as much as I want to see that institution drastically reformed and reshaped, the bill before us is poorly drafted and deeply problematic..
