Graham presses Schumer on ICC sanctions: ‘This farce … needs to end’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to move forward with bipartisan legislation to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) after its prosecutor announced Monday he is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.

Graham praised Schumer’s condemnation of the ICC’s move in a statement on the social platform X on Monday but called for further action to deter the court’s threats in the future.

“I completely agree with Senator Schumer’s strong condemnation of the ICC’s action against Israel today,” he wrote. “However, it is now time to follow strong words with strong deeds.”

“It is imperative that the Senate, in a bipartisan way, comes up with crippling sanctions against the ICC,” the senator continued. “Not only to support Israel but to deter any future action against American personnel.”

“The ICC threatened to come after Americans once. This farce at the ICC needs to end,” Graham added, echoing his statement earlier Monday that recalled the international court once threatened to bring sanctions against U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

The ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, said Monday he is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas officials for what he said he concluded were war crimes and crimes against humanity amid the war in Gaza.

The announcement met broad condemnation from leaders of both parties Monday.

Schumer, in remarks on the Senate floor, said the decision to seek warrants for Israeli leaders “alongside Hamas terrorists” is “reprehensible” and “profoundly unfair,” and he accused the ICC of harboring biases against Israel for decades.

“This decision suggesting an equivalency between Israel and Hamas is another glaring example of that bias against Israel,” the New York Democrat said.

“As I have said many times, there has never been — and there never can be — any equivalency between Israel’s right to defend itself against terror and Hamas’s barbarity,” Schumer added. “The ICC’s decision seeking warrants against Israeli leaders is not only shameful, but also fails to follow protocol and process in a country where it has zero jurisdiction.”

The Senate leader pledged to work with President Biden — who also denounced the decision as outrageous — and “members on all sides to keep support for Israel strong and unwavering.”

The Hill has reached out to Schumer’s office for comment.