The Trump administration on Wednesday announced sanctions against four more members of the International Criminal Court over their efforts to prosecute Israeli and American officials.

The move, announced by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was praised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who lauded the US for working to counter the “false smear campaign” against Jerusalem.

The US designated Judge Nicolas Yann Guillou of France for signing off last year on arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza, along with deputy prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal for upholding those warrants.

Judge Kimberly Prost of Canada was also designated for a ruling that authorized the ICC’s investigation into US personnel in Afghanistan.

In response, the ICC on Wednesday decried the sanctions as a “flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution that operates under the mandate from 125 states parties from all regions.”

In a statement, the court said the sanctions “constitute also an affront against the Court’s States Parties, the rules-based international order and, above all, millions of innocent victims across the world,” the court added. “The ICC will continue fulfilling mandates in strict accordance with its legal framework, without regard to any pressure or threat.”

Netanyahu hailed the announcement of the sanctions, calling them a decisive stand in defense of Israel.

“I congratulate Marco Rubio, US Secretary........

© The Times of Israel