Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the International Criminal Court of anti-Semitism on Thursday after it issued arrest warrants for him and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
“The anti-Semitic decision of the International Criminal Court is comparable to a modern-day Dreyfus trial — and it will end in the same way,” Netanyahu said in a statement, referencing the infamous 19th-century case where French Jewish army captain Alfred Dreyfus was wrongfully convicted of treason.
Netanyahu argued that Israel’s current war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s attacks on October 7, 2023, was “just” and that Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions and accusations made against it.”
He also accused ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan of corruption and alleged that the arrest warrants were an attempt “to save himself from serious accusations of sexual harassment,” a claim Khan has denied.
Netanyahu claimed that the ICC judges were “driven by anti-Semitic hatred of Israel” and vowed that the arrest warrants would “not prevent the State of Israel from defending its citizens.”
His former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, called the warrants, which also included Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, a “dangerous precedent.” Gallant argued that the ICC’s decision had “placed the State of Israel and the murderous leaders of Hamas in the same row,” thus legitimising violence such as “the murder of babies, the rape of women, and the abduction of the elderly from their beds.”
President Isaac Herzog described the court’s move as a “dark day for justice,” stating on X, “It ignores the basic fact that Israel was barbarically attacked and has the duty and right to defend its people.”
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the ICC had “lost all legitimacy” with its “attack on Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir urged the government to respond by annexing the entire occupied West Bank, which Palestinians claim as part of their future state.
Centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid also criticised the court’s decision, stating, “Israel is defending its citizens’ lives against terrorist organisations that attacked, murdered, and raped our people. These arrest warrants are a reward for terrorism.”
Israeli human rights group B’Tselem called for foreign governments to “enforce the warrants” against Netanyahu and Gallant, marking the decision as “one of the lowest points in Israeli history.” It argued that “personal accountability for decision-makers is a key element in the struggle for justice and freedom for all human beings living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.”
