Trump could sanction British lawyer leading ICC push for Netanyahu arrest

US leads major international backlash against Hague-based court, even as UK dithers on whether it would detain Israeli PM

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Donald Trump is considering sanctions against a British lawyer over the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Hague-based court is facing a major international backlash for its decision to issue a warrant for the Israeli prime minister and Yoav Gallant, the former Israeli defence minister.
Mike Waltz, who will serve as Mr Trump’s national security adviser, said the court had “no credibility” and promised “a strong response to the ­anti-Semitic bias of the ICC” when the Trump administration takes office on Jan 20.
Karim Khan KC, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, could be among the officials targeted for sanctions by Mr Trump.
Germany has signalled it would not detain the Israeli leader because of its Nazi past and special relationship with the Jewish state, despite being a member of the ICC.
Viktor Orban, the prime minister of fellow member state Hungary, has vowed to defy the order to arrest Mr Netanyahu, and instead invited him for a state visit.
However, Britain has said it respects the court and ministers have refused to say if Mr Netanyahu would be arrested if he came to the UK.
On Friday, Israel’s ambassador to the UK called on all countries to reject the ICC’s “farcical” order to arrest Mr Netanyahu.
Writing for The Telegraph, Tzipi Hotovely accused the court of finding common ground with Hamas, the Islamic terror group behind the October 7 massacre.
She said: “We thank the US and other allied countries that have rejected the farcical decision of the court and call upon other nations to follow suit in rejecting this injustice. The ICC has shown that every democratic leader, seeking to defend its people, may become a target of the court.
“We’ve reached an astonishing new low when an international court, which claims to uphold international law and human rights, has found common cause with a terrorist organisation that just over a year ago perpetrated the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust on its gratuitous rampage of murder, torture, kidnapping and rape. Make no mistake, this moment has sounded the death knell of the ICC,” she added.
Like Israel, the US does not recognise the authority of the Hague-based court. Senior Republicans have called for sanctions against the ICC’s top officials in response to the arrest warrants.
The court’s politically charged investigation into Israel’s military operation in Gaza was opened by Mr Khan. The ICC said Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant should answer charges of “starvation as a method of ­warfare” and “murder, persecution and other inhumane acts”.
Mr Khan is being investigated outside the ICC over allegations of sexual misconduct. He denies the accusations.
During his first term in office, Mr Trump sanctioned the court’s former chief prosecutor over an investigation into alleged war crimes by US troops in Afghanistan. At the time, Mike Pompeo, then-secretary of state, branded the court a “thoroughly broken and corrupted institution”.
The sanctions against Gambian-born ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, which included a travel ban, were eventually overturned by Joe Biden when he entered office in 2021.
But there is an expectation that Mr Trump could re-enact the same strategy in response to the ICC’s treatment of Israel.
He could also withdraw US involvement and resources from ICC-led investigations into Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
Any sanctions enforced on Mr Khan and his staff could threaten the relationship between Britain and Mr Trump if Sir Keir opts to comply with the arrest warrants.
Depending on the nature of the sanctions, it could also make it difficult for Mr Khan to secure banking facilities in the UK.
The warrant marks the first time in the ICC’s 22-year history that its judges have sought the arrest of the leader of a Western-backed democracy.
The court’s 124 member states, including Britain, are responsible for enforcing arrest warrants it issues.
In a sign of splits among European nations, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands promised to arrest Mr Netanyahu, as well as Mr Gallant, if they arrived in their territories. France affirmed the court’s standing but stopped short of saying whether Mr Netanyahu would face arrest if he crossed its borders.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s top foreign diplomat, confirmed the bloc’s 27 member states, including Germany and Hungary, would be obliged to enforce the warrants.
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, refused on Friday to say publicly whether Mr Netanyahu would be detained if he travelled to the UK.
Mrs Cooper said: “That is not a matter for me as the Home Secretary. International Criminal Court investigations rarely become a matter for the British legal or law enforcement processes or for the British Government. If they ever do, there are proper processes that need to be followed and it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment in advance on any of those.”
However, Downing Street signalled the Israeli prime minister would face arrest if he entered the country.
Asked whether the Government would comply with the law, Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said: “The UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and indeed international law.”
No 10, however, confirmed the Prime Minister would continue to talk to Mr Netanyahu despite the ICC arrest warrant, pointing to the need for dialogue to ease tensions in the Middle East.
Michael McCaul, chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, said the court had made a “shameful decision” to issue the warrants, accusing it of an “anti-Israel witch hunt”.
In an online statement, the Republican said the Senate should immediately enact legislation to sanction ICC officials to “protect American servicemembers and officials, and our allies”.
Lindsey Graham, a senator for North Carolina, went further, promising to back a law that would punish countries that comply with the arrest warrants.
“Any nation or organisation that aids or abets this outrage should expect to meet firm resistance from the United States, and I look forward to working with President Trump, his team, and my colleagues in Congress to come up with a powerful response,” he said.
Jim Risch, the Republican senator who is the incoming chairman of the foreign relations committee, also urged sanctions against the court’s top officials. “While I supported the work the ICC was doing to prosecute Putin for his war crimes in Ukraine, I can no longer support an organisation that has blatantly chosen to disregard its mandate,” he said.
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