U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on the 18th (local time) that sanctions would be imposed on two International Criminal Court (ICC) judges involved in issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and investigating him.

In a press release from the State Department on the same day, Secretary Rubio designated two judges from Georgia and Mongolia as targets for 'sanctions against the ICC'.

Secretary Rubio stated, "They were directly involved in the ICC's efforts to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals without Israel's consent," adding, "This includes their vote as a majority to reject Israel's appeal on December 15th."

Previously, the ICC prosecutor requested arrest warrants in May of last year for Prime Minister Netanyahu, then-Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and top leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas on charges of 'war crimes,' and the ICC pre-trial chamber issued the warrants.

Israel appealed, demanding an end to the investigation and the withdrawal of the arrest warrant for Prime Minister Netanyahu, but the ICC Appeals Chamber rejected this on the 15th.

The United States and Israel are not parties to the Rome Statute, the treaty establishing the ICC, and therefore maintain that they cannot recognize the ICC's jurisdiction.

Secretary Rubio pointed out, "The ICC has continued to take politically motivated actions against Israel, which sets a dangerous precedent for all nations."

He emphasized, "We will not tolerate the ICC's abuse of power that infringes upon the sovereignty of the United States and Israel, and unjustly subjugates Americans and Israelis."

U.S. Secretary of State Rubio. EPA Yonhap News