Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be arrested if he visits any of the countries participating in the ICC. Photo by Ronen Zvulun/POOL/AFP via Getty images
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif.
All three have been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity for the war in Gaza, where at least 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gazan authorities. The war started after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, when the terrorist group killed least 1,200 people and captured hundreds, with at least 100 hostages still held in Gaza.
Israel believes it killed Deif, Hamas’ military leader, in airstrikes, but under the warrants both Netanyahu and Gallant could be arrested in any of the 124 countries that are members of the ICC. The United States does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction, and neither does Israel.
Netanyahu fired Gallant as defense minister earlier this month, while Israel is embroiled in conflict on two fronts — with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, both terrorist groups backed by Iran, which has twice attacked Israel this year.
In a statement, Netanyahu’s office called the prosecutions “antisemitic” and likened them to the Dreyfus affair, the late-19th-century prosecution of a French Jewish officer that was revealed to be an antisemitic plot. The affair spurred the modern Zionist movement.
“There is no war more just” than the war Israel has conducted since Hamas launched the war on Oct. 7, 2023, when it massacred some 1,200 people in Israel, Netanyahu’s statement said. “The decision was made by a corrupt chief prosecutor trying to save his skin from serious sexual harassment allegations,” he statement said. Netanyahu was referring to an investigation of Khan on charges of sexual misconduct.
The Biden administration, which has provided Israel with military aid, has also criticized the warrants.
“Let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas,” President Joe Biden said in a statement in May, when Khan sought the warrants. “We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
JTA contributed to this report.
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