Sanders: ICC 'right' to seek arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli defense official

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday defended the International Criminal Court for seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant along with senior Hamas officials, breaking with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on the controversial issue.

“The ICC prosecutor is right to take these actions. These arrest warrants may or may not be carried out, but it is imperative that the global community uphold international law,” Sanders said in a statement.

“Without these standards of decency and morality, this planet may rapidly descend into anarchy, never-ending wars, and barbarism.”

Sanders argued that Netanyahu’s regime has “waged an unprecedented war of destruction against the entire Palestinian people, which has killed or injured over 5 percent of the population.”

He issued his statement at around the same time that Schumer denounced the ICC for seeking warrants to arrest Netanyahu, Gallant as well as three senior Hamas officials.

“The ICC prosecutor’s decision seeking arrest warrants for Israeli leaders alongside Hamas terrorists is not only profoundly unfair, but it is reprehensible,” Schumer said.

But the Democratic leader said the decision comes as “no surprise” because “for decades and decades the ICC has shown in harbors deep biases against Israel.”

“This decision suggesting equivalency between Israel and Hamas is another example of that bias against Israel,” he said.