This morning, the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on baseless and outrageous charges of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity.”
Netanyahu and Gallant will now be liable for arrest if they travel to any of the more than 120 countries that are party to the ICC. Several European states that are ICC members have already said they would enforce the arrest warrants.
With this decision, the ICC has reached a new low in its morally bankrupt and politically motivated attacks against the Jewish state. And Congress must respond.
In June, the House passed an AIPAC-backed bipartisan bill to sanction ICC officials for threatening our ally, but the bill is awaiting a vote in the Senate.
TAKE 45 SECONDS:Click here to email your senators and urge them to support this bipartisan bill. Once you take action, ask your friends and family to join you by using www.aipac.org/act.
The Biden administration and Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress have strongly condemned the Court’s discriminatory attack against the Jewish state.
White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said America “fundamentally rejects” the Court’s decision. “It was clear to the United States that the court did not have jurisdiction over this matter.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)said, “Once again the ICC has shown its blatant anti Israel bias... I condemn and reject the ICC’s harmful action.”
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)said, “This is damning...Not for Israel, but for the impotent sham court flaunting its lack of moral clarity as a badge of honor.”
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) called the Court’s decision “shameful” and said, “I stand with the Biden administration in fundamentally rejecting this unserious decision.”
And Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), recently chosen by President-elect Trump to be his national security advisor, said, “You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC & UN come January.”
The decision was also condemned by Israeli leaders from across the political spectrum.
Netanyahu said, “Israel rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions leveled against it by ICC," calling it “a modern Dreyfus trial.”
Gallant added, “The decision sets a dangerous precedent against the right to self-defense and moral warfare and encourages murderous terrorism.” Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapidagreed, “These arrest warrants are a reward for terrorism.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzogsaid, “This is a dark day for justice. A dark day for humanity. Taken in bad faith, the outrageous decision at the ICC has turned universal justice into a universal laughingstock.”
And former Defense Minister Benny Gantzcalled the decision a “moral blindness and shameful stain of historic proportion that will never be forgotten.
Action Needed: Your Senators Just Voted on Blocking Arms to Israel
Last night, the Senate voted on Bernie Sanders’ dangerous resolutions that would have blocked critical arms sales to our ally Israel.
The Senate overwhelmingly rejected Sanders’ dangerous effort, but some senators voted AGAINST arms sales to Israel.
ACT NOW: Email your senators to thank those who voted NO and express your disappointment with those who voted YES.
One Israeli killed amid continued attacks from Hezbollah and Houthis
A 27-year-old Israeli was killed, and two others were injured, at a playground in northern Israel by a Hezbollah rocket barrage. The attack came as White House senior envoy Amos Hochstein met with Israeli officials to negotiate a ceasefire with the Iranian-backed terror group.
Meanwhile, Israelis in northern and central Israel were forced into bomb shelters by a long-range ballistic missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen
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“On an almost daily basis, Hezbollah fires hundreds of missiles and rockets into Israel’s North. And yet there seems to be progress being made in negotiations towards a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
If we are approaching a deal, what does it look like? How will it be enforced? What are the political forces shaping the deal - in Jerusalem, in Tehran, and in Washington D.C., as the U.S. transitions to a new administration?
And, crucially, how many of the some 60,000 Israelis who were evacuated from the north over a year ago will be able to return to their homes?
New report on illicit Iranian oil exports
A new Bloomberg investigation details the “world’s largest gathering point for dark fleet tankers,” off the coast of Malaysia, where ships transfer billions of dollars of Iranian oil at sea to evade sanctions.
The report conservatively estimates that 350 million barrels of illicit oil passed through this point in the first 9 months of the year.
That’s more than $20 billion in oil headed from Iran to China via Malaysia on a dark fleet of tankers. “The true value is likely far higher,” the report notes.
Congress passed the AIPAC-backed SHIP Act earlier this year to address this problem. The Biden administration must now enforce these sanctions and crack down on these ships, their owners and the ports where they eventually offload.
The mission of AIPAC is to encourage and persuade the U.S. government to enact specific policies that create a strong, enduring and mutually beneficial relationship with our ally Israel.
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