US senators’ response to ICC underlines deep Democratic divides

High-profile Democratic lawmakers have staked out opposing positions to the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s call for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and senior Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes.

A statement by US Senator Bernie Sanders listed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hamas’s Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar as leaders that “engage in war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

"The ICC prosecutor is right to take these actions.”

Sander’s endorsement is in stark contrast to Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer who called the ICC prosecutor’s call for arrest warrants “reprehensible”.

"For decades and decades the ICC has shown it harbors deep biases against Israel….this decision is another glaring example of that bias,” Schumer said.