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Pete Hegseth in all his white supremacist glory.
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Look Ma I'm A Warfighter Leading the Warfighters

Less than astonishingly, grossly unqualified, historically untrustworthy, sexually assaulting, manic Secretary of Drunkenness and Defense Pete Hegseth evidently screwed up again, this time giddily spewing war plans in real time on his phone to his besties just minutes after a general sent them. Meanwhile, as insiders describe "total chaos" at the Pentagon - screaming, infighting, distrust - "G.I. Joke" says blame the media, deep state, "leakers" (pot/kettle) 'cause look he's so good at his job there's no trans folks in sight.

In the latest revelations, reported by NBC News, within 10 minutes of receiving detailed plans about last month's U.S. strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen on a secure channel from Army Gen. Michael Kurilla, who leads U.S. Central Command, the former loose-lipped weekend Fox News host Hegseth spewed his cool intel on an unsecured Signal group chat to about a dozen people - his for-now-third-wife, his brother, his attorney, and for all we know his fave bartender, his Nazi buddies and the loser who makes his gunky hair gel. The piss-drunk guy with the white nationalist tattoos and history of leaking shared those plans about two hours before the airstrikes hit, even though an aide had specifically warned him not to use Signal to share sensitive information, which he'd already done with an Atlantic editor mistakenly included on another chat. Nothing to see here.

Confronted for his carelessness and stupidity by Dems calling for his ouster, Whiskey Pete did what was right, acknowledged his egregious error in judgment, and humbly resigned. Just kidding. Like any good MAGA, he defiantly lied, oh-yeahed?, deflected and whined that nothing is ever his fault. Online, he sputtered to critics, "Your agenda is illegals, trans & DEI - no longer allowed at the Defense Department." Totally relevant. Then he went to the White House Easter Egg Roll, where his kids cringed behind him as he loudly trashed Fake News "hoaxsters": "This is what the media does. They take anonymous sources, disgruntled former employees and they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations....It’s not going to work with me, because we’re changing the Defense Department, putting the Pentagon back in the hands of war fighters." (And my relatives).

Then he went on Fox News, his safe place, where he used to work and show up drunk but they still feel for him and suggest his gross incompetence is just part of a "learning curve." Brian Kilmeade, bending low in deference - "Mr. Secretary, you take this job, you come in with war experience and all your great background" - asked if "deep state forces" are working against him. "They've come after me from day one," Pete whined, though he added it's nothing compared to his master the anti-Christ: "What he has endured is superhuman." "It's not hard for me to do this job. I know exactly why I am here," he said. "To bring war fighting and the war fighting ethos back to the Pentagon." Eagerly, Kilmeade chimed in, "I know the warfighters are happy to have a warfighter up top." A little intel-dropping is no biggie, boasted Hegseth: "I look at war plans every day," and besides, leakers gonna leak.

The new national insecurity scandal comes amidst oustings of multiple Hegseth advisers who question his judgment, cite his failures, warn there are "more shoes to drop" and say "the Pentagon focus is no longer on warfighting (but) endless drama.” After he fired press secretary John Ullyot and three others, Ullyot has charged "unnamed" officials "have slandered our character with baseless attacks on our way out the door." "We have not been told what exactly we were investigated for, or if there was even a real investigation of ‘leaks,"’ he said. "The last month has been a full-blown meltdown at the Pentagon." On "a month of hell," the New York Times likewisedescribes "a run of chaos that is unmatched" in the DoD's recent history, with sustained infighting, "screaming matches," paranoia about leaks and blame-games over the questionable success of the Houthi campaign.

Outside the Pentagon, military officials blast an unprecedented Defense Secretary "willfully divulging operational plans against a hostile military force in real time," especially bafflingly, to his wife and bro. It's more than what's called the occasional "spill," says one long-timer "Here he's knowingly using an insecure communication device and he's knowingly giving classified information to people who are not security clearance holders. It really gets more to the sort of willfulness that is typically prosecuted by the Department of Justice." Which is why Air National Gruardsman Jack Teixeira was sentenced to 15 years in prison for disclosing sensitive military information to impress his friends on Discord, unlike Secretary Pete "flag hankie" Hegseth who did pretty much the same thing to impresses his peeps on SIGNAL like it was a super-cool-lookit-me Happy Birthday greeting.

Pentagon spox Sean Parnell claims, "No classified material was ever shared via Signal," charging the hoopla is just "an attempt to sabotage" Trump and Hegseth, but try telling that to the families of guys in the air possibly put in danger. Hegseth himself lamely called the leak "informal, unclassified coordinations for media coordination, other things." Harumph, says retired Marine Lt. Col. Mick Wagoner, a longtime military lawyer who deployed to four war zones. "There is just no-way, no-how, an American military operation starting off is going to not be classified," he retorts. "For Lord's sake." Just lookit this frantic, strung-out, high-on-something guy: Do the "warfighters" in the Pentagon really see/hear him and think, yup, that's a guy we wanna follow into battle 'cause wow he sure knows his stuff. He has, however, put a shiny (but manly) new make-up studio in the Pentagon.

“Do you think ... there's some type of deep state forces that want to make sure you don't stay there?"www.mediamatters.org

To date, GOP Rep. Don Bacon, a retired Air Force General.on the House Armed Services Committee, is the only Republican member of Congress to say out loud, albeit mildly, that Hegseth should resign. "I had concerns from the get-go because (he) didn’t have a lot of experience," he said. "I liked him on Fox, but does he have the experience to lead one of the largest organizations in the world? That’s a concern." (You think?) Otherwise, MAGA officially still stands with him, with several suspects saying there's "no talk right now" of removing him. At least until the big fat guy sings: At the Easter Egg Roll, Trump insisted, as usual with zero evidence, "Pete's doing a great job, everybody's happy with him." Then he laughably added, because he's definitely the one to know this sort of thing, "There's no dysfunction.” And nothing's ever your fault.

Other MAGA-ites have been fiery in their support. "This is what happens when the entire Pentagon is working against you and working against the monumental change you are trying to implement," seethed Barbie Press Secretary. Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin outdid her. "I will lead the breach. I will lay down cover fire. I will take the high ground. I’ll expose myself to enemy fire," he screeched. "We must bring back integrity, focus, and put the Warfighter first...I stand with Pete Hegseth." Sighed Josh Marshall: "They're just thirsty as fuck." Many noted in response that Mullin is a plumber. "YOU'RE A FUCKING PLUMBER. YOU'VE NEVER SERVED," wrote one. "You could have but you didn't. We had the longest war in US history and you sat that shit out (but) now you want to be a big tough guy for the idiot who can't keep a secret. Go clear a drain of your own bullshit."

So it went after WaPo ran a story,Hegseth Amps Up Criticism of 'Leakers' After More Scrutiny of Signal Usage. Responses ranged from skepticism to fury, with many ripping the notion that the problem isn't Hegseth being an inept, unstable disaster of a leaker but that a "leaker" is telling us about it. "Hegseth is a true Trumpist: never take responsibility," said one. "His whining is getting really old, like a kid telling a teacher for the 20th time, 'My dog ate my homework.'" Also: "Teenage girls are more reliable with secrets than Hegseth," "He's embarrassing on a global level," "Tough guy auditioning for a role," "He's posting war plans on Signal, doesn't that make him a leaker? What an utterly ridiculous man," "Clearly, Trump thinks 'diversity' means we need more clowns," "Whiskey Pete will be gone in the Friday news dump," and, "Leaker loses his shirt over leakers. Film at eleven." Bring popcorn.

Protester at recent anti-Trump rallyProtester at recent anti-Trump rallyBlueSky

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Demonstrators march during a "Hands off the EPA" rally
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'Sick': Trump Marks Earth Day With Layoff Notice for Hundreds of EPA Staff

As defenders of the planet marked Earth Day with pledges to fight the destructive agenda of U.S. President Donald Trump, some green groups on Tuesday responded with alarm to the administration's plans for layoffs at the Environmental Protection Agency.

Several news outlets obtained the notice that EPA Assistant Deputy Administrator Travis Voyles sent on Monday evening to staffers with the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights as well as regional EJ divisions, warning of a reduction in force (RIF) that will cut 280 employees and reassign about 175 others this summer.

"This action is necessary to align our workforce with the agency's current and future needs and to ensure the efficient and effective operation of our programs," Voyles said. "With this action, EPA is delivering organizational improvements to the personnel structure that will directly benefit the American people and better advance the agency's core mission of protecting human health and the environment."

The Washington Postnoted that "the news comes months after the agency placed 171 of the office's employees on administrative leave and then reversed course, reinstating dozens of regional employees in offices across the country," and as decision-makers at the EPA have been weighing how to implement Trump's executive order targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

"It's a gut punch but long expected," said an employee who was put on leave in February and spoke with the Post on the condition of anonymity. "Announcing a RIF of the EJ program on the eve of Earth Day is sick and shows exactly who they are."

Joyce Howell, executive vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees Council 238 that represents over 8,400 EPA workers nationwide, toldReuters that "decimating our agency and environmental justice workforce goes against our oath to protect human health and to keep our planet healthy and habitable for future generations."

In a Tuesday statement, Sierra Club executive director Ben Jealous similarly said that "the Trump administration is determined to destroy the stated mission of the Environmental Protection Agency to protect human health and the environment. All of us deserve to have clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, and be protected from toxic pollution."

"Instead, the Trump administration is selling us out to corporate polluters by actively working to slash clean air and water protections and laying off critical environmental justice staff," he continued. "The people that Donald Trump is putting out of work are hardworking, dedicated civil servants who have devoted their careers to protecting our clean air and water and securing a livable future for us all. The only people who will benefit from their firings are corporate polluters."

Chitra Kumar, a former official with the impacted EPA office who's now managing director at the Union of Concerned Scientists' Climate and Energy Program, said in a statement that "the layoff notice sent to employees claimed their dismissal would 'better advance the agency's core mission of protecting human health and the environment,' which is the height of hypocrisy given that these staffers are working to reduce pollution and toxins in the communities suffering the most harm."

"Scientific data shows that, due to historic and ongoing injustices, communities overburdened by polluting industries, smog-forming traffic, and contaminated waterways and soil are predominantly low-income, Black, Brown, and Indigenous. Exposure to consistently higher levels of pollution increases the risk of asthma, heart and lung ailments, cancer, and even death," said Kumar, who took aim at EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.

"Zeldin and the Trump administration continue to focus on propping up the profits of coal, oil, and gas companies and other big polluters who take advantage of every loophole available at the expense of public health. This is about all of us, our children, and grandchildren," she stressed. "If Administrator Zeldin goes forward with this destructive move, he will be responsible for ending decades of work intended to help set right the harmful legacy of pollution in overburdened communities in a handout to big polluters."

Kumar pointed out that "this is also part of the Trump administration's larger ongoing strategy to dismantle EPA and its core functions and undermine its very mission, which is to help keep all people in America safe. In the time ahead, Zeldin is expected to launch a repeal, or 'no enforce' order, for a host of science-backed environmental regulations and engage in a wholesale 'reorganization' of the agency, including gutting the Research and Development Office that produces science undergirding EPA decisions."

As criticism of Zeldin and Trump's plans for the EPA mounted, people protested against the administration in communities across the country. Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of the youth-led Sunrise Movement, said in a statement that "Donald Trump, backed by fossil fuel billionaires, is waging a full-scale assault on the very lifesaving protections that Earth Day was created to demand."

While Republicans currently control the White House and both chambers of Congress, some elected Democrats used Earth Day to advocate for policies that would protect the planet. Multiple senators used the day to promote bills that would protect the Pacific and Atlantic oceans from offshore oil and gas drilling.

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US Consumer Sentiment Falls to Second-Lowest Level in 70+ Years—And It's Likely to Get Worse

Consumer sentiment in the United States continued its sharp plunge this month under President Donald Trump as Americans grew increasingly concerned about the prospect of a job-destroying recession in the near future—fears fueled in large part by the administration's erratic tariff policies.

The University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers, released Friday, found that U.S. consumer sentiment plunged 11% at the start of April compared to last month, a decline that was "pervasive and unanimous across age, income, education, geographic region, and political affiliation."

That's according to the survey project's director, Joanne Hsu, who said that "sentiment has now lost more than 30% since December 2024 amid growing worries about trade war developments that have oscillated over the course of the year."

Friday's assessment shows that overall consumer sentiment has fallen to its second-lowest level since the early 1950s.

"Consumers report multiple warning signs that raise the risk of recession: expectations for business conditions, personal finances, incomes, inflation, and labor markets all continued to deteriorate this month," said Hsu. "The share of consumers expecting unemployment to rise in the year ahead increased for the fifth consecutive month and is now more than double the November 2024 reading and the highest since 2009."

"This lack of labor market confidence," Hsu added, "lies in sharp contrast to the past several years, when robust spending was supported primarily by strong labor markets and incomes."

"President Trump isn't executing an economic agenda, he's piloting a kamikaze mission."

Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative, said in a statement that "the scariest part of today's plunging consumer sentiment numbers is that we might be looking at the high-water mark."

"The president's reckless trade policies have roiled markets, shattered retirement accounts, and halted shipping orders. We could be looking at price spikes, shortages, and even a recession in the weeks and months to come," said Owens. "Worst of all, while consumers are bracing for impact, Congress is gutting the safety net they'll need to rely on if the economic devastation continues. President Trump isn't executing an economic agenda, he's piloting a kamikaze mission."

Trump himself has admitted that his tariffs, which he partially paused for 90 days earlier this week, could spark a recession.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the president "told advisers that he was willing to take 'pain'" and "privately acknowledged that his trade policy could trigger a recession but said he wanted to be sure it didn't cause a depression."

While Goldman Sachs withdrew its recession forecast after Trump announced the partial tariff pause, Moody's chief economist Mark Zandi toldFortune that he took "no solace in the president’s announcement to delay the reciprocal tariffs for 90 days."

"Even if the administration can cut a few deals during this period, it will leave us with significantly higher tariffs, which are tax increases on American consumers and businesses," said Zandi. "This will weigh heavily on the U.S. and global economies and likely result in a recession."

"To what end?" he asked. "There will be no boost to investment in the U.S. The trade deficit will be no smaller. And there won't be any reliable increase in government revenues. It is impossible to fathom why the world is being put through all this unnecessary drama."

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U.S. President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi
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'Authoritarianism in Action': Trump Orders DOJ Probe of Democratic Donation Platform ActBlue

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday launched his latest attack on political opponents by directing the Justice Department to investigate ActBlue, a critical fundraising platform for Democrats and progressive organizations.

The order came in the form of a memorandum that the president signed shortly before heading to his Virginia golf course for a $1 million-per-plate fundraiser for MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC that has been accused of receiving illegal straw-donor contributions.

In his memorandum, Trump raised "concerns" about straw donations—when a donor makes a contribution through another person or entity—and directed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to "investigate allegations regarding the unlawful use of online fundraising platforms to make 'straw' or 'dummy' contributions or foreign contributions to political candidates and committees, and to take all appropriate actions to enforce the law."

Trump's memorandum cites a recent report from House Republicans accusing ActBlue of "a lack of commitment to stopping fraud." ActBlue and House Democrats rejected the GOP findings at the time, calling the document "less of a report and more of a desperate effort to change the subject."

"This president, with his approval ratings underwater and sinking like a stone, is desperately seeking to undermine his political opposition by cutting off their access to funding."

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said Thursday that Trump's broadside against ActBlue marks a similar attempt to divert attention from the president's own corruption.

"Donald Trump pocketed millions of dollars in unlawful payments from foreign governments during his first term, his administration shut down a probe into whether his campaign received an illegal and urgent $10 million bribe from Egypt, and foreign nationals are spending millions on Trump-owned cryptocurrencies right now in apparent hopes of buying their way out of federal criminal investigations through undisclosed payments," Raskin said in a statement.

"The Trump administration has also systematically dismantled crime-fighting efforts at the Department of Justice aimed at foreign corruption of our politics and actually announced its indifference to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," he continued. "So it's rich indeed for Americans to read now that Trump has launched a big initiative to 'crack down on foreign influence' in American politics with one purpose—crippling the fundraising platform of his political opponents."

"Today's presidential decree targeting the campaign infrastructure of the Democratic Party with precisely zero evidence of wrongdoing is the kind of edict you'd expect from a power-mad dictator in a Banana Republic. This president, with his approval ratings underwater and sinking like a stone, is desperately seeking to undermine his political opposition by cutting off their access to funding."

Since its inception in 2004, ActBlue has raised nearly $17 billion through its platform, and it is widely used by Democratic candidates and progressive groups, including organizations critical of the Democratic leadership such as Justice Democrats. (Common Dreams is among the organizations that use ActBlue to process donations.)

According to ActBlue, nearly 15 million Democratic donors have saved their payment information on the platform.

In a statement, ActBlue said that "today's escalation by the White House is blatantly unlawful and needs to be seen for what it is: Donald Trump's latest front in his campaign to stamp out all political, electoral, and ideological opposition."

"ActBlue will immediately pursue all legal avenues to protect and defend itself," the organization added.

Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, called Trump's investigation order "authoritarianism in action." In a joint statement, Martin and the heads of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Democratic Governors Association said that "Trump's memorandum targeting ActBlue is designed to undermine democratic participation—and it's no wonder why."

"He knows Americans are already fed up with his chaotic agenda that is driving the economy off a cliff, so he's trying to block lawful grassroots donations from supporters giving just $5 or $10 to candidates who oppose him while further empowering the corrupt billionaires who already control his administration," the Democratic leaders said. "As Democrats, we're unified in standing with the millions of Americans who are fighting back against Trump's dangerous abuses of power."

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Palestinian theater director Mustafa Sheta, general manager of the Freedom Theater at the Jenin camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank, is seen on December 12, 2022.
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Number of Jailed Writers Increases Worldwide for Sixth Consecutive Year

A report released Thursday by the free expression group PEN America detailed how authoritarian regimes around the world, recognizing "the role that writers play in promoting critical inquiry and cultivating visions of a better, more just world," jailed more journalists and writers last year than ever before.

The number of imprisoned writers has ticked up each year since the group began its yearly Freedom to Write Index six years ago. In 2024, the index recorded 375 writers in prison across 40 countries—up from 339 writers who were detained in 33 countries the previous year.

The group observed startling trends in governments' crackdown on freedom of expression last year. The number of women imprisoned for their writing rose, with women making up 16% of those incarcerated last year, compared with 15% in 2023 and 14% in 2022.

Writers classified as "online commentators" accounted for 203 imprisoned authors last year, while 127 journalists were jailed for their work. Other professions represented in the index include literary writers, poets, songwriters, and creative artists.

"The high numbers of writers in the online commentator and journalist categories suggest that a significant proportion of the cases included jailing or other threats because of their writing commentary on politics or official policies, economic or social themes, or advocacy for a range of human rights," reads the report.

China and Iran are the biggest jailers of writers, with the two countries accounting for 43% of imprisoned writers worldwide.

Other top offenders include Saudi Arabia with 23 writers, Israel with 21, Russia with 18, and Belarus with 15.

"Authoritarian regimes are desperate to control the narrative of history and repress the truth about what they are doing. That is why writers are so important, and why we see these regimes attempting to silence them," said Karin Deutsch Karlekar, PEN America's director of writers at risk. "Jailing one writer for their words is a miscarriage of justice, but the systematic suppression of writers around the world represents an erosion of free expression—which is often the precursor to the destruction of other fundamental human rights."

The index includes all cases in which writers are detained for at least 48 hours in its accounting of jailed writers. The report notes that as in previous years, PEN America observed an increase in the number of writers held without charge or in pre-trial detention, with 80 such cases last year—up from 76 in 2023.

The majority of writers held in administrative and pre-trial detention—"tools of repression," the report says—were detained by officials in China, Egypt, and Israel.

The index highlighted a number of cases of jailed writers, including:

  • Ilham Tohti, a Uyghur economist and blogger who "has been detained incommunicado since 2017" after being sentenced to life in prison by a court in Umruqi, China in 2014;
  • Nobel Peace Prize laureate and women's rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi, who was among several women attacked by Iranian military forces and prison guards at Iran's Evin prison in August 2024; and
  • Mahmoud Fatafta, a Palestinian columnist who was arrested in May 2024 by Israeli security forces in the West Bank while traveling with his 10-year-old son, with authorities citing his Facebook post in which he quoted Egyptian scholar Abdul Wahab al-Mesiri: "The more brutal the colonizer becomes, the nearer his end is."

Fatafta's arrest came amid Israel's U.S.-backed assault on Gaza and the West Bank, which has provoked outcry by international human rights groups, including in Israel and the United States.

The U.S. was not named as a country of concern in the index, but PEN America pointed to "recent developments in the United States," with the Trump administration revoking visas of foreign students who have protested the government's support for Israel and detaining several student organizers, as evidence of "the precarious nature of freedom of expression."

"The suppression of free expression has taken on an especially troubling dimension on college campuses where Palestinian and pro-Palestinian voices are being silenced, including via attempts to deport student activists, limiting discourse on issues of the war in Gaza and human rights," reads the report.

PEN America noted that Columbia student organizers Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi and Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk were apparently detained "purely on the grounds of speech protected by the U.S. Constitution," with Ozturk targeted specifically because she co-authored an opinion piece for a student newspaper.

Their detention, said the group, "not only undermines academic freedom but also stifles the critical exchange of ideas."

"As geopolitics continue to shift and authoritarian tendencies spread to countries that were once considered safely anchored in openness," said PEN America, "we are seeing that free expression, and therefore writers, are increasingly in the crosshairs of repression in a much wider range of countries."

Karlekar said that writers like those who have been detained in the last year "represent a threat to disinformation and encourage people to think critically about what is going on around them."

"War, conflict, and attacks against the free exchange of information and ideas go hand in hand with lies and propaganda," said Karlekar. "With the index, we want to alert the world to the jailing and mistreatment of these 375 writers. Each and every one of them should be released, and we insist that the world's jailers of writers end this repression and abuse."

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Benjamin Netanyahu and Viktor Orbán walk along a red carpet while Hungarian soldiers stand at attention
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ICC Demands Hungary Explain Why Netanyahu Wasn't Arrested During Visit

The International Criminal Court on Wednesday initiated proceedings against Hungary for failing to enforce the tribunal's arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his recent visit to the Central European nation.

The ICC is asking Hungary's far-right government to explain why it did not comply with its warrant for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Such compliance is required under the Rome Statute, the treaty governing the ICC to which Hungary is signatory.

The tribunal's request cites Article 87 of the Rome Statute, which authorizes legal action against state parties who don't cooperate with the court, and gives Hungary until May 23 to respond.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said shortly before Netanyahu's visit that Hungary would quit the ICC. Not only did Hungary reject the arrest warrant, Orbán literally rolled out the red carpet to welcome his far-right counterpart in Budapest earlier this month, prompting rebuke from the ICC and human rights groups.

In May 2021, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan applied for warrants to apprehend Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for "crimes of causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, [and] deliberately targeting civilians in conflict."

Khan also sought warrants to arrest three Hamas leaders who have since been killed by Israel for alleged crimes committed during and after the October 7, 2023 attack, including "extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape, and sexual assault in detention."

The full 18-judge ICC approved the warrants in November, prompting Republicans and dozens of Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives to pass legislation to sanction tribunal officials. Democrats subsequently blocked the measure in the Senate. Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order imposing sanctions on the ICC, prompting an ACLU-led lawsuit.

Israel and allies including the United States have either openly flouted the ICC warrant or offered dubious legal reasons for sidestepping the arrest order.

Italy and France, for example, have granted Netanyahu immunity on the grounds that he is the head of state of a country that is not an ICC member.

Trump welcomed Netanyahu to the White House a month before the Budapest trip, though the U.S. is not a party to the Rome Statute.

Although Israel is not signatory to the Rome Statute, officials from non-state parties are still subject to ICC prosecution if they commit crimes inside nations that have ratified the treaty. Palestine became an ICC member in 2015.

Just two years ago France backed the ICC arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine war crimes charges—even though Moscow has not signed the Rome Statute—arguing that "no one responsible for crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine, regardless of their status, should escape justice."

Last year, an ICC panel referred Mongolia to the court's oversight body after it failed to arrest Putin, who was warmly welcomed by Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh and other officials in Ulaanbaatar.

Luis Moreno Ocampo, who served as the ICC's first prosecutor, told the Emirati newspaper The National on Wednesday that Netanyahu remains free thanks to the political influence of countries including the U.S. However, Ocampo said that "this protection is temporary" and accused Netanyahu of prolonging the Gaza war to delay his own domestic criminal corruption trial.

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