The International Criminal Court is a fundamentally illegitimate institution, according to John Bolton, former ambassador to the United Nations, on Newsmax.
Bolton was on "Newsline" to discuss the ICC seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as for Hamas terrorist leaders.
The charges against Netanyahu and Gallant will include "causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies [and] deliberately targeting civilians in conflict," the ICC's Karim Khan told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
Bolton dismissed the charges against Israel and called the ICC a "fantasy idea."
"It sits out there in the atmosphere somewhere with no accountability, no control over it," Bolton said.
Bolton said it was only a matter of time before the ICC went after the United States.
"The ICC is a thoroughly bad idea from top to bottom," Bolton said. "It may well prolong the war and make a resolution more difficult."
The former national security adviser criticized the ICC for issuing the arrest warrants in the middle of a war against a democracy like Israel.
"This ought to cement the United States having nothing to do with the ICC," Bolton said.
Bolton said the U.S. should implement sanctions on the ICC if it goes after the U.S. or its allies.
Netanyahu said this was the first time a democratic country committed to international law is defending itself from accusations of war crimes while at the same time facing existential threats.
"Eighty years after the Holocaust, the international bodies established with the goal of preventing another Holocaust are considering denying the Jewish state its right to defend itself," Netanyahu said.
Material from the Jewish News Syndicate contributed to this report.
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Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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