The International Criminal Court won’t stop Israel from achieving “total victory” in Gaza, the prime minister has said
Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the International Criminal Court (ICC) of setting a “dangerous precedent” after its top prosecutor, Karim Khan, requested arrest warrants for both the Israeli PM and defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu said in a statement on Monday evening that the ICC prosecutor’s “absurd” move “undermines every democracy’s right to defend itself,” while insisting that the court has “no jurisdiction over Israel.”
“Mr. Khan’s abuse of this authority will turn the ICC into nothing more than a farce. He’s doing something else. He is callously pouring gasoline on the fires of antisemitism that are raging across the world. Through this incendiary decision, Mr. Khan takes his place among the great antisemites in modern times,” Netanyahu said.
The outrageous decision by the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, to seek arrest warrants against the democratically elected leaders of Israel is a moral outrage of historic proportions. It will cast an everlasting mark of shame on the international court.https://t.co/ZgIF8WM5zv pic.twitter.com/36ks3Tuj9A
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 20, 2024
The prime minister went on to state that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was “the most moral army in the world” fighting a “just war that is unparalleled,” according to the Hebrew version of the statement. Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza in response to a surprise Hamas attack on its border regions in October 2023, which claimed the lives of some 1,200 people and saw around 250 taken hostage.
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