Rashida Tlaib calls on ICC to arrest Netanyahu; US Senators tell ICC to back down

Democratic representative and "Squad" member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), called for the arrest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for what she alleges are violations of the Genocide Convention.

In a statement last week, Tlaib condemned the Israeli government for its current military operation in Rafah, in the southern Gaza strip, and insinuated that the US was complicit due to the funding it provides Israel.

Tlaib’s website statement on May 7 said, “It’s no coincidence that immediately after our government sent the Israeli apartheid regime over $14 billion with absolutely no conditions on upholding human rights, Netanyahu began a ground invasion of Rafah to continue the genocide of Palestinians—with ammunition and bombs paid for by our tax dollars.”

Tlaib calls Israel an apartheid-state

She continued by referencing Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry statistics that “Israeli forces have already killed over 35,000 Palestinians”.

Tlaib also condemned her colleagues who voted to continue aid to Israel by saying that they “gave their consent for these atrocities, and our country is actively participating in genocide.”

She called for the “end all US military funding for the Israeli apartheid regime” and demanded that President Biden push through a ceasefire with the release of hostages and withdrawal of all IDF forces from Gaza.

The statement ends with Tlaib urging the ICC to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and other Israeli officials who she claims are “accountable for genocide”. 

According to the American right-wing outlet Fox News, Tlaib’s office declined to respond to their request to comment on whether Hamas should be held responsible for the October 7 massacre.

Despite similar stances from other “Squad” members, 12 US senators led by Senator Tom Cotton warned in a letter to Karim A. A. Khan, the ICC prosecutor, that any actions against Netanyahu would result in severe sanctions.

The letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, says that actions against Netanyahu would be “illegitimate and lack legal basis, and if carried out will result in severe sanctions against you and your institution. The ICC is attempting to punish Israel for taking legitimate actions of self-defense against their Iranian-backed aggressors. These arrest warrants would align the ICC with the largest state sponsor of terrorism and its proxy.”

The letter reminds Khan that the ICC did not issue warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or any other Iranian official, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or any other Syrian official, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh or any other Hamas official nor General Secretary of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, or any other Chinese official.

"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 to the sovereignty of the United States," the senators said. 

The letter ends by warning that any action against either country would result in the end of all US support for the ICC, sanctioning of ICC employees and associates, and barring Khan and his family from the US.