Mamdani, Netanyahu and the ICC
Paul Gigot and Wall Street Journal columnists Kim Strassel, Kyle Peterson and Elliot Kaufman analyze New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s initial pledge and subsequent retraction regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest. The discussion highlights the legal limitations and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s commitment to dismantling the International Criminal Court (ICC), emphasizing concerns over its jurisdiction and threats to U.S. sovereignty.
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The Trump administration has sanctioned two top International Criminal Court officials, escalating its campaign to dismantle a body that has investigated alleged U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan and issued arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials over the war in Gaza.
In announcing the sanctions against ICC President Tomoko Akane of Japan and the ICC’s senior trial lawyer, Abdoulaye Seye of Senegal, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the court “corrupt and fatally politicized.”
“These individuals have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction,” Rubio said in a statement, adding that the ICC “has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate.”
The sanctions against Akane and Seye freeze assets they hold in U.S. jurisdictions and largely cut them off from transactions with Americans or the U.S. financial system.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable on the American mining industry at the State Department on August 7, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Eric Lee/Getty Images)
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“Our whole of government campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the ICC to national sovereignty will be sweeping and we expect more countries to join our campaign by ending their funding and participation in this politicized and unaccountable court,” Rubio said. “The ICC’s ability to target American nationals and those of other non-States Parties must end.”
An executive order signed by President Donald Trump in February 2025 created the sanctions’ framework.
The Trump administration argues that the ICC lacks the power to investigate soldiers, military commanders and political leaders from countries that are not parties to the court, including the U.S. and Israel.
International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane speaks to the press after meeting with members of the European Parliament’s Human Rights Committee in Brussels, Belgium on March 19, 2025. (Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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The ICC said the Trump administration’s latest sanctions “undermine the rule of law,” adding that they amount to “a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution.”
“Such measures targeting judges, prosecutors and staff who work towards the fulfilment of the mandate that was conferred to the ICC by States undermine the rule of law,” the ICC said in a statement.
The court continued: “When judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk. Threats and coercive measures also impact the ability of victims to seek justice, as they turn to the Court when all other avenues have been exhausted.”
The ICC maintains that it can exercise jurisdiction over nationals of non-member states when they are accused of qualifying crimes committed on the territory of a state that has accepted the Court’s jurisdiction.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a news conference in Jerusalem on June 15, 2026. (RONEN ZVULUN / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
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Qualifying crimes under the Rome Statute include genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.
Afghanistan and Palestine are both members of the court, which the ICC says allows it to investigate alleged crimes committed on their territories, including alleged war crimes by U.S. personnel in Afghanistan and alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity by Israeli officials in Gaza.
In September 2024, the ICC also issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the minister of defense at the time.
