'For truth and justice': Netanyahu praises Rubio, US for sanctions on four ICC judges - Reuters

 

by Reuters

Two judges and two prosecutors at the ICC were sanctioned, as Washington kept up its pressure on the war tribunal over its targeting of Israeli leaders.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conferene at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, August 10, 2025

(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's decision to impose sanctions on two judges and two prosecutors at the International Criminal Court on Wednesday.

"This is a decisive action against the false smear campaign against the State of Israel and the IDF, and in favor of truth and justice," Netanyahu said in a statement.

Rubio's decision came as Washington kept up its pressure on the war tribunal over its targeting of Israeli leaders.

Washington designated Nicolas Yann Guillou of France, Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji, Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal, and Kimberly Prost of Canada, according to the US Treasury and State Department.

ICC judges issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli defense chief Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri last November for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict.

FILE PHOTO: An exterior view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, March 31, 2021. (credit: REUTERS/PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW/FILE PHOTO)

Guillou is an ICC judge who presided over a pre-trial panel that issued the arrest warrant for Netanyahu. Khan and Niang are the court's two deputy prosecutors.

The move comes less than three months after the administration took the unprecedented step of slapping sanctions on four separate ICC judges, saying they have engaged in ICC's "illegitimate and baseless actions" targeting the US and close ally Israel.

ICC, which had slammed the move in June, describing it as an attempt to undermine the independence of the judicial institution, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

ICC deplores new US sanctions on another four of its staff members

The ICC deplored the announcement of new US sanctions. "These sanctions are a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution which operates under the mandate of 125 states parties from all regions," the ICC said in a statement.

"They constitute also an affront against the Court's States Parties, the rules-based international order and, above all, millions of innocent victims across the world," the court added. "The ICC will continue fulfilling mandates in strict accordance with its legal framework, without regard to any pressure or threat."

What can the ICC do?

The ICC, which was established in 2002, has international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in member states or if the UN Security Council refers a situation. The United States, China, Russia, and Israel are not members.

It has high-profile war crimes investigations underway into the Israel-Hamas conflict and Russia's war in Ukraine, as well as in Sudan, Myanmar, the Philippines, Venezuela, and Afghanistan.

The sanctions freeze any US assets the individuals may have and essentially cut them off from the US financial system. 

Reuters

Source: https://www.jpost.com/international/article-864821

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