‘Anti-Semitic’: Netanyahu, Israel officials reject ICC arrest warrants

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the International Criminal Court (ICC) of anti-Semitism after it issued arrest warrants against himself and his former defence minister on Thursday, calling it “a modern-day Dreyfus trial”.

“The anti-Semitic decision of the International Criminal Court is comparable to the modern-day Dreyfus trial – and it will end in the same way,” Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to the 19th century Alfred Dreyfus affair in which a Jewish army captain was wrongly convicted of treason in France.

Netanyahu dismissed the ICC as a “biased and discriminatory political body” and said the war in Gaza – the reason the ICC issued the warrants – was justified.

“No war is more just than the war Israel has been waging in Gaza since October 7th 2023, when the Hamas terrorist organisation launched a murderous assault and perpetrated the largest massacre against the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter).

ICC’s ‘absurd’ arrest warrants

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has also lashed the ICC’s action, saying on Thursday that it had “lost all legitimacy” after it issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant over the Gaza war.

“This is a dark moment for the ICC,” Saar posted on social media platform X, adding: “The body calling itself a ‘court’ issued absurd orders without authority… even though Israel is not a member of the court.”

President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, said the ICC’s decision was taken in bad faith and it marked a “dark day for justice”.

“The outrageous decision at the ICC has turned universal justice into a universal laughing stock. It makes a mockery of the sacrifice of all those who fight for justice – from the Allied victory over the Nazis till today,” Herzog posted on X.

“Indeed, the decision has chosen the side of terror and evil over democracy and freedom, and turned the very system of justice into a human shield for Hamas’ crimes against humanity.”

EU: We will arrest Netanyahu

Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) says it will arrest Netanyahu should he set foot on a member country’s soil.

The EU’s foreign policy chief said ICC arrest warrants issued Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Deif were “binding” and should be implemented.

“It is not a political decision. It is a decision of a court, of a court of justice, of an international court of justice. And the decision of the court has to be respected and implemented,” Joseph Borrell said during a visit to the Jordanian capital Amman.

© Agence France-Presse

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