Israeli officials fired back at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday after the ICC requested arrest warrants for two Israeli leaders.
The ICC on Monday requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for allegedly committing war crimes in Gaza. The court also requested warrants for Hamas’ top leader Yahya Sinwar, top political leader Ismail Haniyeh, and military commander Mohammed Dief.
Israeli officials reacted strongly to the pursuit of warrants, largely a symbolic gesture, against Netanyahu and Gallant. The warrants, if obtained, have no legal authority in most countries, including Israel and the United States.
“We have not seen such a show of hypocrisy and hatred of Jews like that displayed by the court in the Hague since Nazi propaganda,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said, according to The Times Of Israel. “The Nazis also spoke in the name of ‘morality’ and there was nothing there besides antisemitism.”
“Arrest warrants for them are arrest warrants for all of us,” Smotrich added.
National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said, “The prime minister and the defense minister need to ignore the antisemitic prosecutor and order a stepped-up assault against Hamas until they are completely destroyed.”
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett accused the ICC of supporting terrorists by pursuing action against top Israeli officials over the war in Gaza. Israel declared war on Hamas and invaded the Gaza Strip after hundreds of terrorists killed 1,200 people and took hostage hundreds more on October 7.
“The prosecutor’s request is a moment of shame for the ICC and the world community. It also provides a huge boost to global Jihadi terror,” Bennett said in a post on X. “An ICC that compares the executor of a deliberate murderous attack that included raping women and burning babies, with those who are defending themselves against it, is better off not existing.”
“It’s time for the decent nations to defund the ICC,” Bennett said.
The prosecutor’s request is a moment of shame for the ICC and the world community.
It also provides a huge boost to global Jihadi terror.
An ICC that compares the executor of a deliberate murderous attack that included raping women and burning babies,
with those who are…— Naftali Bennett נפתלי בנט (@naftalibennett) May 20, 2024
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan released a statement on Monday saying he has “reasonable grounds” to believe that the Israeli officials “bear criminal responsibility for … war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on the territory of the State of Palestine (in the Gaza strip) from at least 8 October 2023.” Khan accused Israel of intentionally targeting civilians, starving civilians, starvation as a war tactic, and other “war crimes.”
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The prosecutor also accused the Hamas leaders of a variety of crimes, including taking hostages, raping civilians, and torture.
The charges against Israel evoked strong strong support for the Jewish state among U.S. officials, as well. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina dismissed the ICC’s credibility, pointing out that the court attempted to pursue charges against American soldiers in Afghanistan, as well.
“This outrageous decision is truly a slap in the face to the independent judiciary in Israel, which is renowned for their independence,” Graham said in a statement on X. “We must not forget as a nation the International Criminal Court threatened to bring action against American forces in Afghanistan – and we are a non-member.”
This outrageous decision is truly a slap in the face to the independent judiciary in Israel, which is renowned for their independence.
We must not forget as a nation the International Criminal Court threatened to bring action against American forces in Afghanistan – and we are a…
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) May 20, 2024