Thursday, Nov. 21, 5:57 a.m. MT
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel Prime Minister, and Isaac Herzog, Israel President, issued the following statements after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Prime Minister Netanyahu [translated from Hebrew]:
“The anti-Semitic decision of the International Criminal Court is a modern Dreyfus trial — and will end the same way.
“Israel utterly rejects the false and absurd charges of the International Criminal Court, a biased and discriminatory political body.
“No war is more just than the war Israel has been waging in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, when the Hamas terrorist organization launched a murderous assault and perpetrated the largest massacre against the Jewish People since the Holocaust.
“The decision to issue an arrest warrant against the Prime Minister was made by a corrupt chief prosecutor who is trying to save himself from sexual harassment accusations and biased judges who are motivated by antisemitic hatred of Israel.
“The ICC prosecutor lied when he told American senators that he would take no action until he had visited Israel and heard its side.
“Instead, he cancelled his arrival in Israel last May, several days after suspicions of sexual harassment were made against him, and announced his intention to issue arrest warrants against the Prime Minister and former Defense Minister.
“No anti-Israel decision will prevent the State of Israel from defending its citizens.”
President Herzog:
“This is a dark day for justice. A dark day for humanity.
“Taken in bad faith, 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.
“It ignores the plight of the 101 Israeli hostages held in brutal captivity by Hamas in Gaza. It ignores Hamas’ cynical use of its own people as human shields. It ignores the basic fact that Israel was barbarically attacked and has the duty and right to defend its people. It ignores the fact that Israel is a vibrant democracy, acting under international humanitarian law, and going to great lengths to provide for the humanitarian needs of the civilian population.
“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.
“This cynical exploitation of the international legal institutions reminds us once again of the need for true moral clarity in the face of an Iranian empire of evil that seeks to destabilize our region and the world, and destroy the very institutions of the free world.”
