Central ND News

Senator John Hoeven has joined Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) in introducing a bipartisan Senate resolution to reject the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. On May 20, 2024, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan announced he is seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, as well as three leaders from Hamas. The application will be reviewed by the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber, which will decide whether to issue the warrants. The Pre-Trial Chamber can take between one month and one year to issue arrest warrants after reviewing applications. Neither the United States nor Israel is party to the treaty that established the ICC.

“We stand with Israel and against terrorists, like Hamas,” said Hoeven. “The ICC seeking arrest warrants for Israeli leadership is completely wrong and only emboldens Hamas. This bipartisan resolution is about supporting our ally and showing the world that the U.S. Senate stands with Israel.”

“It is unconscionable that the ICC prosecutor would seek arrest warrants for Israeli leaders for defending against Hamas terrorists,” said Rounds. “Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization while Israel is a democracy and ally of the United States that works hard to uphold international law. This action by the ICC prosecutor draws an equivalency that is devoid of reality. I am proud to lead my colleagues in this resolution that tells the world that we stand with Israel.”

“The International Criminal Court’s decision to charge Israeli leadership with war crimes is shocking and disgraceful. Israel is facing an existential threat in Hamas’s brutal terrorist agenda, and I have continued to support the country’s right to defend itself in a manner expected of a nation that abides by the law of armed conflict,” said Manchin. “I’m proud to introduce this bipartisan resolution with Senator Rounds to condemn the ICC’s outrageous choice that equates Israel’s efforts to secure its homeland with the barbarism of Hamas, and I encourage all of my colleagues to join us.”

In addition to Hoeven, Rounds, and Manchin, the resolution is cosponsored by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), John Fetterman (D-Penn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) John Thune (R-S.D.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).