Update: The bill covered below, H.R. 23, passed the U.S. House this afternoon by a vote of 243-140, with 45 House Democrats voting with Republicans.
On Monday, I wrote about how the new Congress was elected with record-shattering money from the pro-Israel group AIPAC—the group gave more money to candidates during the 2023-24 election cycle than any other group ever. Now, the House of Representatives is starting to get down to business and its second piece of legislation, scheduled to be voted on today, is designed to give the head of the Israeli government an important international benefit.
The House will vote today on a bill that would protect Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from war crime prosecutions by the International Criminal Court (ICC) through imposing sanctions.
In November of last year, the ICC issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity. According to the ICC, its pre-trial chamber determined there were “reasonable grounds to believe that both individuals [Netanyahu and Galant] intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity, from at least 8 October 2023 to 20 May 2024.”
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant on the same day against the believed-to-be-deceased Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri (Deif) for the mass killings carried out on Oct. 7.
The House bill, titled the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, declares that the ICC’s actions against the Israeli figures are "illegitimate and baseless” and requires the President of the United States to impose sanctions if the ICC engages in any attempt to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any American, Israeli, or person from other American ally countries that have not consented to the ICC’s jurisdiction. The sanctions would be applied to anyone who has “directly engaged or otherwise aided” with the court’s effort or who has “materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of” its efforts.
The bill’s primary sponsor is Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and is co-sponsored by several Republicans with heavy AIPAC backing, including Michael McCaul (at least $464,000 from AIPAC PAC during the 2024 cycle) and Brian Mast (at least $213,000 from AIPAC PAC during the 2024 cycle). AIPAC, which is based in D.C., has lobbied Congress in favor of the bill, which it says “Sends a strong message to the court that the United States will not sit idly by while Americans or our allies are unjustly attacked.”
The bill was one of the 12 that House Republicans included in the House rules package for the 119th Congress that are automatically placed in order for consideration by the House. The rules package waives all points of order against the 12 bills and limits debate to one hour.
A version of the legislation was passed by the House last year, but not taken up by the Senate. It received unanimous support from all Republicans who were present and voted, as well as the support of 42 Democrats. Several of the House Democrats voting for the measure received more than half a million dollars in campaign contributions each earmarked by AIPAC PAC last cycle, including Reps. Don Davis (N.C.), Jared Golden (Maine), Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.). The roll call details can be viewed at this link.
