The United States ought to impose sanctions on officials of the International Criminal Court who pursue an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stated a senior foreign policy advisor to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday following a meeting with Netanyahu.

Robert O'Brien, who was Trump's last national security advisor, made these remarks during an interview for Reuters in al-Quds after meeting with Netanyahu and other Israeli officials during a multi-day visit to the American ally.

O'Brien, who mentioned that Trump would be updated on the outcomes of the visit, discussed the ICC's "irrational decision" to issue warrants for Netanyahu and Security Minister Yoav Gallant during his meetings with Israeli officials.
 
"We can sanction the bank accounts, the travel. We can put visa restrictions on these corrupt prosecutors and judges. We can show some real mettle here," O'Brien said as quoted by Reuters from al-Quds.

O'Brien was accompanied by former US Ambassador to the UAE John Rakolta and former Ambassador to Switzerland Ed McMullen.

This trip marked a rare instance of Trump's allies traveling abroad as part of an organized delegation to meet with foreign officials. 

In addition to Netanyahu, the delegation recently met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, and Security Minister Gallant, according to O'Brien. Their schedule did not include meetings with Palestinian leaders.

O'Brien emphasized that rescuing all remaining Israeli captives held by Hamas and capturing Yahya Sinwar would be essential for declaring victory over the movement.

"This is something I did share with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and President Herzog and Benny Gantz from the war cabinet: We've got to move quickly," O'Brien said as quoted by Reuters. "Israel has to defeat Hamas in Rafah." 

The group clarified that they did not visit "Israel" at Trump's request.

However, O'Brien, Rakolta, and McMullen all maintain regular communication with Trump, who, despite facing four criminal trials, leads his November 5 presidential election opponent, Democratic President Joe Biden, in polls across most battleground states.

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Trump imposed sanctions on ICC during presidency

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan requested, on Monday, arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, and three Palestinian leaders, accusing them of committing war crimes, which some saw as an attempt to appease all sides. 

In an interview for Reuters, O'Brien expressed his support for Republican-led legislation in Congress that would impose sanctions on ICC employees who investigate officials from the US or allied countries that do not recognize the court, such as "Israel".

The extent of bipartisan support for the bill remains uncertain, although both Democratic and Republican officials have been highly critical of the ICC.

In 2020, Trump issued an executive order restricting travel and freezing the assets of ICC staff involved in investigating US actions in Afghanistan. These sanctions were lifted in the early months of the Biden administration.

During the interview, O'Brien, Rakolta, and McMullen dismissed claims from numerous US, Palestinian, and international officials who accuse "Israel" of targeting civilians.

Over 35,000 Palestinians have been killed during "Israel's" seven-month-long conflict, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Yet, O'Brien claimed, "The Israelis are conducting themselves in a really fine tradition of a modern, humanitarian military, and I think that's the biggest takeaway from the meetings we've had in my view."

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