Blinken says he wants to work with Congress to penalize International Criminal Court Anchorage

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he wants to work with Congress on legislation to penalize the International Criminal Court after it applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

“Given the events of yesterday, I think we have to look at the appropriate steps to take to deal with again, what is a profoundly wrongheaded decision,” Blinken said at a State Department budget hearing with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Blinken’s comments were an early indication of the Biden administration’s openness to taking action against the Netherlands-based court for its application for arrest warrants for the senior Israeli officials. The court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan also issued warrants for senior Hamas officials, including its leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

Blinken was responding to questions by the ranking member of the committee, Republican Sen. James Risch, who asked if Blinken would work with him on legislation that “includes the question of the ICC sticking its nose in the business of countries that have an independent legitimate, democratic judicial system.”

“The devil’s in the details, so let’s see what you got, and we can take from there,” said Blinken in response, adding that he wants to work with the committee “on a bipartisan basis.”

In a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Tuesday afternoon, Blinken said he would “welcome” working with Sen. Lindsey Graham on “bipartisan” sanctions against the ICC.

The Biden administration came out forcefully against Khan on Monday for his decision to apply for the warrants against top Israel officials on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“It’s clear Israel wants to do all it can to ensure civilian protection,” said Biden at a White House reception marking Jewish American Heritage Month. “Let me be clear: What’s happening is not genocide.”

Lawmakers from both parties condemned the ICC’s actions on Monday, and House Speaker Mike Johnson said that House Republicans are looking into sanctioning the ICC.

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