The United States imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court after Navi Pillay, a former judge who authored a United Nations Commission of Inquiry report accusing Israel of genocide, won the Nobel Peace Prize Friday.

Although the investigators on the Commission of Inquiry are supposed to avoid even the appearance of bias, according to the U.N.’s own standards, Pillay, along with the other two commissioners, boasted a record of antisemitic and anti-Israel activity:

• In November 2017, Pillay accused Israel of apartheid.
• In June 2020, she signed the South African boycott, divestment, and sanctions petition against Israel.
• In May 2021, she described Israel’s actions as inhuman.
• In June 2021, she wrote a letter to Joe Biden demanding a call for an end to Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people.

Already back in 2012, Congress had sent a bipartisan letter to the U.N. requesting that Pillay’s term as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights not be extended.

“President Trump will never allow the International Criminal Court to prosecute Americans,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio ​said in a statement.

“That is why, today, the United States is sanctioning the International Criminal Court. We will ban ⁠transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate,” he added.

However, the sanctions are structured to allow the court to correct course. To that end, the United States issued several exemptions that would permit some transactions for ICC telecommunications, software, and pension payments, as well as transactions linked to ICC detainees.

“Either the ICC ⁠will end ​its threats, or we will end the ICC. We expect our allies, many of whom are part of ​the ICC and that rely on American servicemembers for their defense, to rein in the court,” Rubio said.

“We have structured this action to provide an opportunity for States Parties to negotiate and present a solution to address our ​concerns. If these efforts do not bear fruit, we will continue to adjust accordingly,” Rubio added.

ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan slammed the sanctions and vowed that the ICC would continue its work regardless.

“The sanctions are intended to undermine the ​rule of law internationally and the work that an independent judicial institution is doing,” Khan said. “Our work will continue across all our situations, our investigations, and our prosecutions.”