Israeli President Isaac Herzog said today that the decision of the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to seek arrest warrants for Israeli officials because of the war in Gaza is more than outrageous and emboldens terrorists around the world.
Herzog said on social media that this decision shows the extent to which the international judicial system is in danger of collapsing.
"Made in bad faith, this unilateral move represents a unilateral political step that encourages terrorists around the world and violates all the basic rules of the court in accordance with the principle of complementarity and other legal norms," wrote the president of Israel.
In addition, he assessed that the leaders of Hamas are oppressive dictators, guilty of initiating mass murder, rape and kidnapping, and that any attempt to draw a parallel between those, as he wrote, "horrible terrorists and the democratically elected government of Israel, which is working to fulfill its duty to defend and protect its citizens in full accordance with international law, excessive and no one can accept it".
Herzog wrote that he expects such a step to be condemned and rejected by all the leaders of the free world.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Galant are accused of extermination, starvation as a method of war, denial of humanitarian aid and deliberate targeting of civilians.
The ICC also named Hamas officials and leaders Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sivar as wanted for crimes of extermination, murder, hostage-taking, rape, sexual assault and torture.
The Speaker of the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) Amir Ohana, opening the first summer session, stated that the International Criminal Court in The Hague has proven to the world that it is not legitimate.
He believes that it is a scandalous decision that places the state of Israel, regardless of the leadership, together with the "murderous terrorist organization Hamas, which kidnapped, tortured, burned, massacred and killed Jews.
The decision of the chief prosecutor of the ICC, Karim Khan, denies Israel's right to self-defense, according to the speaker of the Knesset, Israeli media reported.
"Unbridled, direct attack on the victims of the massacre"
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced today that the ICC warrants for the arrest of Israeli officials are an "unbridled direct attack" on the victims of the massacre committed by Hamas on October 7 and the hostages still held in Gaza.
"While the murderers and rapists of Hamas commit crimes against humanity, against our brothers and sisters, the Prosecutor (ICC) mentions in the same breath the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense of Israel and the hideous monsters of Hamas, similar to the Nazis," said Katz and added that " historical shame" forever remembered.
He said he had instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to focus on what he called "the fight against a decision whose primary intention is to tie Israel's hands and prevent it from exercising its right to self-defense."
Israel's foreign minister released the statement as the ICC's chief prosecutor said he had sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant for crimes of "causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including denial of humanitarian aid, deliberate targeting of civilians in conflict." , Israeli media reported.
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Minister: The prosecutor's decision is a crime of historic proportions
Israel's minister and member of the war cabinet, Benny Gantz, condemned today the decision of the chief prosecutor of the ICC, Karim Khan, to seek arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galant, labeling it as a "crime of historic proportions."
Khan is also seeking arrest warrants for three Palestinian Islamist Hamas leaders, Yahya Sinwar, Muhammad Deif and Ismail Haniyeh.
Gantz said that the Israeli army is complying with international law in its fight in Gaza and that it is waging "one of the more just wars in modern history after the massacre by Hamas terrorists on October 7".
He stated that the moral principles of the Israeli army are among the strictest in history, and that Israel has an independent judiciary, and that the withdrawal of the parallels of the leader of a democratic country, determined to defend itself against terror, with the leaders of a "bloodthirsty terrorist organization is a deep distortion of justice and an obvious moral bankruptcy."
"The position of the prosecutor to request arrest warrants is in itself a crime of historic proportions that generations will remember," Gantz added, as reported by Israeli media.
Khan said he believed Netanyahu, Galant and the three Hamas leaders were responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Leader of the opposition: It is inexcusable to include the leaders of Israel and Hamas in the same indictments
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid today rejected Prosecutor Khan's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Galant, as well as the leader of the Palestinian extremist movement Hamas, stating that Israel will not accept any comparison with Hamas.
"It is not possible to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Sinvar and Deif. There are no such comparisons, we cannot accept that and it is inexcusable," Lapid said, calling the decision a "terrible political failure."
Lapid said he expected the US administration to condemn the arrest warrants and expressed confidence that it would stand by Israel.
Israeli ultra-right ministers Bezalel Smotrič and Itamar Ben-Gvir accuse the chief prosecutor of the ICC of anti-Semitism, after the request to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Galant.
"We haven't seen such hypocrisy and hatred against Jews, like that shown by the court in The Hague, since Nazi propaganda. The Nazis also spoke in the name of morality and there was nothing there but anti-Semitism," said Smotrich and offered support to Netanyahu and Galant, judging that the indictments against them are, as he said, "indictments against all of us".
Ben-Gvir called on Israel to end its participation in the Hague legal proceedings and said the prime minister and defense minister should ignore "the anti-Semitic prosecutor and order an increase in attacks on Hamas until it is completely destroyed."
An unnamed Israeli official told local media that the slander against Israel crossed a red line with the Attorney General's efforts against the only democracy in the Middle East, and that it will not prevent Israel from defending itself and achieving all the goals of the war.
He announced that Netanyahu will issue a video statement later today.
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