Across Israel’s political spectrum, the ICC arrest warrants draw condemnation
International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan during an interview in Paris, Feb. 7, 2024. Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images.
(JNS) — Israeli politicians from across the political spectrum condemned the International Criminal Court’s decision on Nov. 21 to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The Prime Minister’s office issued a statement saying “The antisemitic decision of the International Criminal Court is a modern Dreyfus trial — and will end the same way.”
Completely rejecting the “false and absurd charges,” the prime minister’s office noted that “the decision to issue an arrest warrant against the prime minister was made by a corrupt chief prosecutor who is trying to save himself from sexual harassment accusations, and biased judges who are motivated by antisemitic hatred of Israel.”
It also noted that “the ICC prosecutor lied when he told American senators that he would take no action until he had visited Israel and heard its side.”
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the warrants mean that the ICC has “lost all legitimacy for its existence and activity,” as “it acted as a political instrument [wielded by] the most radical forces working to undermine peace, security and stability in the Middle East.”
The warrants are “in fact an attack on Israel’s right to defend itself,” he wrote, calling on “all decent countries and people” to reject them.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, a harsh critic of Netanyahu, tweeted: “I condemned the decision of the court in The Hague. Israel is defending its existence from terrorist groups that attacked, murdered and raped out citizens. These arrest warrants are a prize for terrorism.”
The court in The Hague announced on Nov. 21 that it would act on the recommendation of prosecutor Karim Khan to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, who is dead according to the Israeli military.
Amir Ohana, speaker of the Knesset and a top member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, wrote: “Targeting the democratically elected leaders of Israel, the Middle East’s only democracy and the world’s only Jewish state, is nothing short of an assault on justice, truth and the universal right of self-defense.”
Education Minister Yoav Kisch wrote that the decision “will deter neither us nor the State of Israel from striking its enemies without hesitation until a total victory.”
Benny Gantz, another prominent opposition leader, called the ICC’s decision “moral blindness and a shameful stain of historic proportions that will never be forgotten.”
Yair Golan, the leader of the Democrats Party — perhaps the most left-of-center of the Zionist political parties in Israel — wrote that the decision was “shameful,” adding: “Israel has always had and will always have the right to defend itself from our enemies.”
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, a right-wing critic of Netanyahu, wrote: “Israel is fighting… the most just of wars against pure evil. All Israelis, left and right, stand behind the war, whose goals are to release the kidnapped Israelis, demolish Hamas and restore security to Israel. Shame on ICC.”
Avigdor Liberman, another right-wing critic of Netanyahu and who served under him as foreign minister, said the decision “reflects the double morals and hypocrisy of the international community and the United Nations.”
The ICC is not part of the United Nations but its tribunal, the International Court of Justice, which like the ICC is also based in The Hague, is similarly reviewing criminal charges brought against Israel in connection with its war on Hamas in Gaza.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev called the decision “modern antisemitism disguised as justice.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote that Israel’s response to the arrest warrants should be annexing “all the territories of Judea and Samaria; establishing settlements in all parts of the country and severing all ties with the terrorist authority [the Palestinian Authority], as well as applying sanctions [against it.]”
The ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel as Jerusalem is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, which established the court. But in a legalistic sleight of hand, the court has asserted jurisdiction by accepting “Palestine” as a signatory in 2015, even though no such state is recognized under international law.
The U.S. is also not a signatory.
However, the 123 countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute are obligated to act on any arrest warrant it issues, raising the possibility that Netanyahu and Gallant could be placed under arrest while visiting these places, including the EU.
Hamas reaction
Conversely, Al Jazeera reported that Hamas “welcome(s) the International Criminal Court’s issuance of arrest warrants for terrorists Netanyahu and Gallant on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“We urge the International Criminal Court to hold all Israeli leaders accountable,” the statement continued. “We call on the countries of the world to cooperate with the court to bring war criminals Netanyahu and Galant and stop the crimes of genocide against civilians in Gaza.”
Israel’s Ynet news outlet cited Izzat al-Risheq, a senior member of Hamas’s politburo based in Qatar, as saying that “regardless of the possibility of implementation, the truth that has been revealed is that international justice is with us, while it is against the Zionist entity. This increased awareness and the exposure of the true terrorist face of the occupying entity is in the interest of the Palestinian cause and its future and strengthens our future goal of liberation.”
