An executive order authorizing the International Criminal Court is signed by Trump.

If ICC personnel are found to have aided in the investigation of U.S. citizens or allies, the ruling contains financial penalties and restrictions on their ability to obtain visas.

Washington — President Donald Trump accused the International Criminal Court of unfairly targeting Israel and the United States in an executive order he issued on Thursday.

Unidentified ICC officials and their family members who were found to have aided in the investigation of American citizens or allies are subject to both financial penalties and visa restrictions under the ruling. In a fact sheet it acquired, NBC News previously covered the order’s contents.

When the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and multiple Hamas commanders at the same time in November of last year, it provoked a bipartisan response in Washington. According to the order from the Trump administration, this led to a “shameful moral equivalency.”
By limiting humanitarian aid and purposefully targeting civilians during Israel’s battle in Gaza, the court found that Netanyahu and Gallant employed “starvation as a method of warfare.” Israeli officials denied the accusations, calling them antisemitic and untrue.

The executive order’s signing on Thursday seemed to coincide with Netanyahu’s trip to Washington, which included a meeting with the Oval Office on Tuesday.

“The ICC’s recent actions against Israel and the United States set a dangerous precedent, directly endangering current and former United States personnel, including active service members of the Armed Forces, by exposing them to harassment, abuse, and possible arrest,” according to the executive order’s text.

Trump claimed during his first term that the ICC has “no jurisdiction, no legitimacy, and no authority” in the United States and that neither Israel nor the United States are signatories to the Rome Statute, which created the court.

According to the presidential order’s fact sheet, “the ICC was intended to be a court of last resort.” “The ICC should never have jurisdiction over the United States or Israel because both countries have strong judicial systems.”

A bill to sanction the ICC was passed by the House earlier this year, but the Senate was later blocked by Democrats.

The ICC is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, and has no police to carry out its warrants; neither Israel nor the United States acknowledge its jurisdiction. No matter the accused’s level, signatories are required to execute arrest warrants under the Rome Act that established them. The international legal norm that heads of state are immune from other courts is also adhered to by the majority of states.