(Headline USA) “Squad” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., on Tuesday called for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged violations of international law, The Hill reported.
Tlaib, who was censured by her colleagues in the House late last year for anti-Semitic rhetoric, accused Netanyahu and other Israeli officials of violating the Genocide Convention after Israeli forces invaded the Palestinian city of Rafah.
Israeli officials hope the siege will be their final military campaign in the monthslong effort to root out Hamas terrorist leaders and recover any surviving hostages from the deadly Oct. 7 ambush that broke a two-year ceasefire agreement.
Tlaib—who has repeatedly refused to condemn egregious Hamas atrocities, including rape and the decapitation of infants—accused Israel of killing more than 35,000 Palestinians and exposing them to “unimaginable” suffering.
“I urge the ICC [International Criminal Court] to swiftly issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and senior Israeli officials to finally hold them accountable for this genocide, as is obviously warranted by these well-documented violations of the Genocide Convention under international law,” she said in a statement.
Tlaib also blasted the U.S. for its continued support of Israel, accusing the Biden administration of giving “their consent for these atrocities” and “actively participating in genocide.”
President Joe Biden must immediately cut off all funding to Israel, Tlaib continued.
“It’s no coincidence that immediately after our government sent the Israeli apartheid regime over $14 billion with absolutely no conditions on upholding human rights, Netanyahu began a ground invasion of Rafah to continue the genocide of Palestinians—with ammunition and bombs paid for by our tax dollars,” she claimed.
Shockingly, after having dangled the Israeli aid as an incentive to induce Republicans to vote on a $95 billion package conveying more than $60 billion in funding to Ukraine, the Biden administration announced it was pausing its Israeli aid on Tuesday.
Former President Donald Trump was impeached under similar circumstances for threatening to pause aid to Ukraine that had already been approved by Congress.
Biden has faced a difficult balancing act trying to placate the pro-Hamas faction of the Left, which could inflict severe political damage in swing states like Michigan if they chose to boycott the 2024 election, while ultimately remaining beholden to the broader Democratic base that supports sending aid to America’s longtime geopolitical ally in Israel.
Several Republicans have already warned the ICC that any action against Netanyahu and other Israel officials would result in severe sanctions by the U.S.
“If you issue a warrant for the arrest of the Israeli leadership, we will interpret this not only as a threat to Israel’s sovereignty but to the sovereignty of the United States,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., joined by 11 other Republican senators, wrote in a letter to the ICC. “The United States will not tolerate politicized attacks by the ICC on our allies. Target Israel and we will target you.”
