The speaker of Israel’s Knesset said Thursday the International Criminal Court’s issuance of warrants for the arrests of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are an assault on “the universal right of self-defense” and mark a “dark day for international law.”
The ICC accused 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.
“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,” wrote Amir Ohana, who has been speaker of Israel’s Knesset since 2022, in a post on X. “This decision marks a dark day in the history of international law. Rather than upholding the principles of justice, the ICC has chosen to politicize its mandate, turning itself into a tool of terrorists and those who seek to delegitimize Israel’s right to exist and defend its citizens from genocidal terror.”
Netanyahu and Gallant are now internationally wanted suspects, but Israel and the U.S. are not members of the court, although the European Union, France, Ireland, and other countries reportedly said they would honor the arrest warrants.
“Such actions cast an everlasting stain of shame on the court and erode its credibility on the world stage,” Ohana, a member of Israel’s ruling Likud party, wrote. “The only crimes against humanity in this war are those committed on October 7th against Israel by Hamas, and the ongoing use of hostages and human shields by them.
“Israel will not be intimidated. Under Netanyahu’s leadership, we will continue to wage a just and determined war against those who seek our destruction. Our commitment to protecting the citizens of Israel, bringing back our 101 hostages and ensuring that our commitment to the security of our nation remains unwavering.”
Ohana wrote that other democracies should take heed because the ICC’s “dangerous precedent” threatens “all nations fighting the scourge of terrorism.”
“Today it is Israel; tomorrow, it could be any democracy standing on the frontlines of justice and freedom against [terrorism],” he wrote. “Israel stands proud, resolute, and united. We reject this decision with the full moral force of our conviction and will continue to act decisively to defend our people and our sovereignty.”
The ICC also announced Thursday an arrest warrant for former Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif, a prime operator of the 2023 terrorist attack who Israel said it killed in August. But the ICC said, “it is not in a position to determine whether Mr. Deif has been killed or remains alive.”
In a P.S. on his X post directed at the ICC, Ohana wrote: “You didn’t get the memo about Mohammed Deif.”