TEHRAN - The US House of Representatives on Tuesday started a war against international law by voting in favor of a bill that would sanction the International Criminal Court for seeking arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war minister Yoav Gallant. 

The Republican-drafted legislation followed after ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan recently announced that he is pursuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the Israeli war in Gaza.

The legislation, 247-155, would sanction individuals who have “directly engaged in or otherwise aided” the ICC in prosecuting Americans or citizens of US allies that do not recognize the ICC, including Israel, according to al-Monitor.

However, lawmakers from both parties supported the ICC issuing an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin, whose country is not also party to the ICC, for war crimes in Ukraine. 

The sanctions include revoking U.S. visas held by ICC officials, blocking their entry into the U.S. and preventing them from property transactions. 

The House legislation, even if endorsed by the Senate, will not be a game changer because it targets ICC officials involved in the case by blocking their entry to the US, preventing them from property transactions, and revoking American visas held by them. However, if arrest warrants are issued it will deal a serious blow to Israel.

It is hard for Israeli officials to be officially identified as war criminals because their names come next to the Balkan butchers, namely Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic, and Slobodan Milosevic. In certain aspects, the crimes that Israel is committing in Gaza are worse. The Balkan war criminals did not kill indiscriminately. At least they did not massacre women, the elderly, babies or boys under a certain age. Also, they did not starve women and children.

The House legislation emboldens criminals in Israel to commit more crimes with greater impunity.

This legislation will surely bring defamation to Congress and openly shows that it exercises double standards.

There is no instance of war crimes and crimes against humanity that Israel has not committed in Gaza since October 7 last year.

The 247 lawmakers who voted for the bill don’t represent the interests of Americans. Rather, they are protecting a regime that sees no boundary for its crimes.

Israel organized and paid for an influence campaign last year targeting US lawmakers and the American public with pro-Israel messaging, as it aimed to foster support for its actions in the war with Gaza, according to officials involved in the effort and documents related to the operation, New York Times reported on Wednesday.

These corrupt lawmakers have no scruples to target the ICC and launch a war against international law. Even massive protests against the Israeli carnage in American universities did not make them revise their shameful support for the Israeli butchers.