The American Servicemembers Protection Act (ASPA), a law signed by President George W. Bush in 2002, prohibits the United States from cooperating with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in seeking warrants against Israel.
Additionally, the law authorizes the president to “use all means necessary and appropriate to effect the release of any person detained or imprisoned by, on behalf of, or at the request of the International Criminal Court.” ing.
This provision applies not only to Americans but also to Israelis and other close allies of the United States.
As reported by Breitbart News, the ICC announced on Monday that it would pursue warrants against three Hamas terror leaders, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political opponents were united in condemning the ICC’s announcement. Prime Minister Netanyahu also posted a video on X/Twitter denouncing anti-Semitism in The Hague, which equates Israeli and Hamas terrorists.
“This is exactly what the new anti-Semitism looks like. It has been moved from Western campuses to the courts of The Hague.” https://t.co/othV1x6MZd
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) May 20, 2024
President Joe Biden was furious, even though he personally rescinded sanctions against the ICC established by then-President Donald Trump in 2020 to prevent the ICC from investigating the United States and non-ICC member states.
A Bush administration-era law actually prohibits the United States from cooperating in any way with the ICC’s controversial prosecutions.
ASPA was designed for the war on terror, where terrorists violate international law when attacking, but abuse it when defending, hiding among civilians to intentionally harm and deter counterattacks. .
Specifically, “no U.S. court, nor any state or local agency or entity, including any court, shall cooperate with the International Criminal Court in response to a request for cooperation submitted by the International Criminal Court under the Rome Statute.” It stipulates that “no person shall do so.” Law. ” The law also allows the United States to release Americans held in her ICC custody. This provision led critics of the law to state that: phone That is the “Hague Invasion Law.”
The law extends similar protections to military personnel and government officials from major non-NATO allies, including “Australia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Argentina, South Korea, New Zealand” and Taiwan.
Anti-Israel group Human Rights Watch complained at the time that ASPA “authorizes the use of military force to liberate American or U.S.-allied nationals” from the ICC facility in The Hague.
Joel B. Pollack is a senior editor at Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday Sunday nights from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM ET (4:00 PM to 7:00 PM PT) on Sirius XM Patriot. He is the author of a recently published e-book.The Zionist conspiracy (and how to join it)‘ is now available on Audible. He is also the author of an e-book. Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 US Presidential Election. He is the recipient of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter @joelpolak.
