The European Union on Friday threw its support behind the world’s top war crimes court, the International Criminal Court, after the United States sanctioned four of its judges in retaliation for having issued an international arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and for opening an alleged war crimes case into US troops in Afghanistan.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the four judges were responsible for investigations of the U.S. military and arrest warrants against top Israeli officials.

Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud was appointed following a parallel and independent voting process in the General Assembly and Security Council, conducted by secret ballot.