Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the International Criminal Court on Thursday after it issued arrest warrants for him and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.

The ICC is accusing Netanyahu and Gallant of committing the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts in Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip following the Iranian-backed group's terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

Netanyahu and Gallant are now internationally wanted suspects. Although Israel and the U.S. are not members of the court, the European Union, France, Ireland, and other countries reportedly said they would honor the arrest warrants.

"The antisemitic decision of the International Criminal Court is a modern Dreyfus trial — and it will end the same way," Netanyahu said in a video statement posted on his X account.

Netanyahu was referring to the wrongful imprisonment of Jewish French artillery officer Alfred Dreyfus in 1896 on a treason charge. Dreyfus was exonerated in 1906, and the case is a notable example of antisemitism in the criminal justice system, according to the Library of Congress.

"Now, an international court in The Hague — also headed by a French judge — is repeating this outrageous offense," Netanyahu said. "It is falsely accusing me, the democratically elected prime minister of the state of Israel, and Israel's former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, of deliberately targeting civilians — this, when we do everything in our power to avoid civilian casualties."

Netanyahu then took aim at ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, who is facing accusations that he tried for more than a year to coerce a female aide into a sexual relationship and groped her against her will. Two co-workers with whom the woman confided at the ICC's headquarters at The Hague reported the alleged misconduct, but the woman decided against filing a formal complaint. Khan, who was never questioned, denied the allegations.

"The decision to issue an arrest warrant against me, the democratically elected prime minister of the state of Israel, and our former defense minister was made by a rogue prosecutor who is trying to extricate himself from sexual harassment charges and by biased judges who are motivated by antisemitic sentiments against the one and only Jewish state," he said. "These judges did nothing — they did nothing — against the real war crimes committed against the millions who have been murdered or uprooted by the dictatorships in Iran, Syria, and Yemen.

"Instead, they falsely accuse the one democracy in the Middle East, Israel, thereby imperiling the right of all democracies to defend themselves against murderous terrorists and tyrants. Nor did the court do anything against the Hamas terrorists who raped our women, beheaded our men, burned babies alive in front of their parents, and kidnapped hundreds of men, women, and children to the underground dungeons of Gaza. They're still holding 101 hostages — citizens of many lands, including the United States."

Netanyahu noted the irony that the one arrest warrant for a Hamas official the ICC did issue was for Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, commonly known as Mohammed Deif, whom Israel said in August it killed. But the ICC said the prosecution could not confirm his death.

"Come to think of it, the court did issue one arrest warrant against Hamas," he said. "Now hear this. They issued an arrest warrant against the corpse of the Hamas arch-terrorist Mohammed Deif. His corpse. What an absurdity.

"No biased anti-Israel decision in The Hague will prevent the state of Israel from defending its citizens. I want to thank our many friends around the world, especially those in the United States, who have condemned this outrage and who have said this decision will have severe consequences for the ICC and those who cooperate with its decision."

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