Tlaib Says Netanyahu 'Should Be Arrested' in DC

As U.S. lawmakers prepared to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a rare joint address to Congress, Rep. Rashida Tlaib contended Monday that the leader of a country on trial for genocide at the World Court should be apprehended and sent to The Hague to face justice.

"Netanyahu is a war criminal committing genocide against the Palestinian people," Tlaib (D-Mich.)—the only Palestinian American member of Congress—said in a statement ahead of the Israeli leader's scheduled speech on Wednesday. "It is utterly disgraceful that leaders from both parties have invited him to address Congress. He should be arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court."

While the ICC has not authorized Netanyahu's arrest, its chief prosecutor has applied for warrants to apprehend the far-right prime minister and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes including extermination and forced starvation, as well as three Hamas leaders for war crimes allegedly committed during the October 7 attack on Israel.

Israel is also on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice—also known as the World Court—which ruled last week in a separate case that the 57-year Israeli occupation of Palestine is an illegal form of apartheid that must end "as rapidly as possible."

Tlaib continued:

Since 1948, the U.S. has provided more than $141 billion in weapons to the Israeli government to fund the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, including $17.9 billion since October. Netanyahu's apartheid regime has already slaughtered over 39,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including over 15,000 children. Yet my colleagues and the Biden administration continue to approve more funding and send more weapons—even as innocent children like Hind Rajab are targeted with 355 bullets, shot in the head by Israeli snipers, burned to death in their tents with U.S.-made weapons, bombed while playing at school, deliberately starved to death, and Palestinians are bombed in refugee camps and discovered in mass graves, naked and with their hands tied, all livestreamed for the world to see. These are undeniably war crimes under international law.

"Make no mistake: This event is a celebration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians," Tlaib asserted. "It is a sad day for our democracy when my colleagues will smile for a photo-op with a man who is actively committing genocide."

Dozens of Democratic U.S. lawmakers and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont have said they will skip Netanyahu's speech. Vice President Kamala Harris—the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee—has declined to preside over the prime minister's address as Senate president, although she is reportedly planning to meet privately with him on Thursday.

While U.S. President Joe Biden has decried Israel's "indiscriminate bombing" of Gaza and Secretary of State Antony Blinken has lamented that "far too many Palestinians have been killed," the administration continues to send billions of dollars worth of arms to the key Middle Eastern ally.

"Our government must stop supporting and funding this genocide now."

"It is hypocritical to claim to be concerned about the massive death toll of innocent civilians, and then turn around and welcome the person responsible for these war crimes to our Capitol," Tlaib added. "Their silence is betrayal, and history will remember them accordingly. Our government must stop supporting and funding this genocide now."

On Tuesday, a coalition of labor unions representing millions of U.S. workers urged the Biden administration to suspend weapons transfers to Israel.

Progressive groups including the Council on American Islamic Relations and CodePink have also called for Netanyahu's arrest. A coalition of pro-Palestine organizations is planning to surround the Capitol during the prime minister's speech to demand his arrest.

"War criminal Netanyahu belongs in The Hague, not in D.C., and we're going to make sure the message is heard loud and clear!" Palestinian American attorney and International Solidarity Movement co-founder Huwaida Arraf said Tuesday. "We charge GENOCIDE! And we will not tire and will not rest until justice is done!"

Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now, said Tuesday that "it's hard to imagine a greater blow to American credibility and standing around the world than for our Congress to host the prime minister of Israel, an indicted and hopefully soon-to-be-arrested war criminal, responsible for the gravest mass atrocities against Palestinians the world has ever seen."

"It's a great stain on our nation that our elected leaders have chosen to honor the leader of a country facing prosecution for genocide, apartheid, and illegal occupation," Whitson added.