In a setback for legislation intended to criticize the International Criminal Court for its top prosecutor’s decision to file war crimes charges against top Israeli leaders for their military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, a bill to impose sanctions on officials connected to the court reportedly stalled in the Senate on Tuesday after Democrats refused to support it.
The bill, which directly challenges the tribunal’s existence, is currently unsure of its future in the Senate. 45 Democrats joined all Republicans in supporting the proposal, which was passed by the House earlier this month with strong bipartisan support.
The Senate voted 54 to 45 on Thursday, falling short of the 60 votes required for the legislation to move forward. Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat who opposed doing so.
The tribunal’s May decision to bring charges against Israeli authorities and target Hamas leaders, whose October 7, 2023, fatal attack on Israel sparked a violent retaliation in the Gaza Strip, has caused considerable bipartisan outrage in Washington.
However, a number of Democrats contended that the bill was excessively expansive and might affect not only a diverse group of court employees but also American businesses who collaborate with the court.
Members of both parties have claimed that the I.C.C.’s top prosecutor, Karim Khan, went beyond the court’s authority when he filed the charges against Israel and unjustly compared the acts of Hamas terrorist leader Yahya Sinwar and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close ally of the United States, accusing both of crimes against humanity.
Hawaii Democrat Senator Mazie K. Hirono stated Tuesday that Democrats and Republicans had been talking potential methods to limit the measure’s scope, but by the afternoon vote, no compromise had been reached.
Any foreign national who assisted the court’s efforts would have their assets frozen and their visas denied by the bill.
Republicans passed the I.C.C. sanctions bill through the House during the previous Congress, but Democrats refused to bring it up, and it died in the Senate, which was then controlled by the Democrats.
With Mr. Trump in the White House and leadership of both chambers, Republicans had believed that the proposal would suddenly have an easy path to enactment.
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