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Alex Lo

Gangsterism is sometimes used as a metaphor to describe international relations. A group of American senators are making it rather literal.
A threatening letter to Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was obtained by the news site Zeteo.
Signed by 12 Republican senators, the letter has to be read to be believed.
The exposé came as Israel launched operations in Rafah, the last refuge in southern Gaza for more than a million Palestinians.

Diplomatic protocol or official etiquette requires that threats made on record should at least be worded with finesse. Even gangsters are not supposed to directly threaten to burn down your house with your family inside. They usually finesse it: “You have a nice house and family. Shame if anything happened to them.”
But not these tough guys from the US Congress who seem to have taken to heart the horse’s head scene in The Godfather film.
They are angry that the ICC is reportedly preparing international arrest warrants for top Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for alleged war crimes.
In addition to threatening sanctions against ICC prosecutors, their staff and families, these Deplorable Twelve also cite a US “war on terror” law that could justify literally an invasion of The Hague. “Target Israel and we will target you,” they wrote.
“If you issue a warrant for the arrest of the Israeli leadership, we will interpret this not only as a threat to Israel’s sovereignty but [also] to the sovereignty of the United States.”

Go figure. The two countries have been acting practically as one. Many people are starting to think President Joe Biden and his cabinet answer to Netanyahu and not the other way around.
The letter continues, “The United States will not tolerate politicised attacks by the ICC on our allies … If you move forward with the measures … we will … sanction your employers and associates, and bar you and your families from the United States. You have been warned.”
But the crux of the matter is really the American Service-Members’ Protection Act (ASPA), which the letter said “demonstrated … the lengths to which we will go to protect that [US and Israeli?] sovereignty”.
Signed into law by George W. Bush in 2002 at the start of “the war on terror”, ASPA anticipated the possibility that US personnel or foreigners working for them could face charges of war crime and crimes against humanity.

It is derisively known in diplomatic and legal circles as “The Hague Invasion Act” because it authorises the US president “to use all means necessary and appropriate” to bring about the release not only of US citizens but also allies who are imprisoned or detained by the ICC.
So what’s next? Deploy Mossad assassins and Delta Force operatives to the ICC headquarters, or try a surgical bomb strike at it?
When asked for a comment, Katie Britt, one of the letter’s signatories, told Zeteo that it was “not a threat – a promise.”
The White House refused to comment on the letter, but has said previously that it opposes the ICC probe.
Israel reopens key crossing for aid to enter Gaza, as US pauses bomb shipment
Zeteo is a new media outfit set up by respected broadcaster Mehdi Hasan, who was reportedly forced to resign as a current affairs host on MSNBC following his tough questioning, live on TV, of an Israeli spokesman about the war in Gaza.
Of course, this is not the first time the United States has threatened the ICC.
Khan’s predecessor, Fatou Bensouda – along with her immediate family and financial assets – and her deputy Phakiso Mochochoko, were sanctioned by the Donald Trump administration after she launched an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by the US military in Afghanistan.
The sanctions were lifted by Biden after Khan put the probe on the back burner, essentially burying it.
The senators no doubt think he will play ball again with a little push.
But this is too obvious. If Khan backs down now, you might as well fold the ICC and say bye-bye to international law.


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Letter by US politicians to ICC undermines international law

Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, speaks during a UN Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters in New York in July 2023. Photo: Getty Images

A woman mourns embracing the body of a Palestinian killed in Israeli strikes in Rafah. Photo: Reuters

US President Joe Biden (left) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv in October to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict. Photo: Reuters

The International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. Photo: AP

ICC prosecutor vows to ‘further intensify’ Gaza investigation

International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan. File photo: Reuters

More than 15,000 people have been killed in the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza. Photo: AFP

Israel’s allies warn ICC action would hurt Gaza ceasefire chances

A Palestinian mourns relatives killed in Israeli bombardment, at the al-Najjar hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: AFP

Destruction after an Israeli air strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with troops in the northern Gaza Strip in December. File photo: Avi Ohayon/GPO via Xinhua

The International Criminal Court may finally be doing its job

A woman collects items from the rubble of a destroyed building after an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on May 3, 2024. Photo: Xinhua

Opinion

World Opinion

Note from 12 Republican senators threatens court’s chief prosecutor, family and associates with sanctions in bid to protect Israeli leaders


Note from 12 Republican senators threatens court’s chief prosecutor, family and associates with sanctions in bid to protect Israeli leaders.


International Criminal Court

My Take

War and conflict

Israel

United States

Diplomacy

Middle East

Joe Biden

Donald Trump

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Column

.css-1m2rp1p{color:#34b8b5;}My Take | Letter by US politicians to ICC undermines international law

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Note from 12 Republican senators threatens court’s chief prosecutor, family and associates with sanctions in bid to protect Israeli leaders

My Take | Letter by US politicians to ICC undermines international law

Note from 12 Republican senators threatens court’s chief prosecutor, family and associates with sanctions in bid to protect Israeli leaders