Senate Democrats block legislation to sanction ICC over Israel arrest warrants
John Fetterman is lone Democrat to vote to advance House-approved bill targeting Hague court; GOP lawmakers now likely need to resume compromise talks in order to overcome filibuster
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

US Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a Republican effort to advance legislation sanctioning the International Criminal Court over the arrest warrants it issued for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza against Hamas.
A vote to invoke cloture fell six lawmakers short of the 60 needed in order to bring the legislation to a floor vote.
The 54-45 vote result allows Democrats to continue filibustering the legislation and will likely require Republicans to resume negotiations with the Democrats aimed at reaching a compromise on the matter — one that at the very least will likely necessitate tweaking the legislation that already passed the Republican-led House.
Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat who voted with Republicans to advance the bill.
While denouncing the warrants, the Biden administration had refrained from backing the effort, and Democrats seem to have decided to double down on that stance by blocking the bill.
“Deeply disappointed by the outcome of the ICC sanctions bill,” Fetterman said. “My vote follows Israel — not the ICC that equivocated the democratically elected leader of our special ally to the terrorists and rapists of Hamas.”

Despite the outcome of the vote, it’s unclear whether the Congressional legislation is necessary, as US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office restoring sanctions that were imposed during his first term against the ICC, which former president Joe Biden revoked with his own executive order.
Along with the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammad Deif over the terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack that started the Gaza war. All three of them have have since been killed, though the warrant for Deif remains standing as Hamas has yet to confirm his death.
Times of Israel staff and agencies contributed to this report.