Netanyahu: ICC Arrest Warrants An ‘Outrage Of Historic Proportions,’ Would Fuel Worldwide Antisemitism.

“You have to hear this to believe this. The International Criminal Court in The Hague is contemplating issuing arrest warrants against senior Israeli government and military officials as war criminals.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a strongly-worded video statement on Tuesday, blasting reported plans by the ICC to issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials, including himself, as part of an ongoing investigation of Israel’s conduct during the Gaza War.

“This would be an outrage of historic proportions,” Netanyahu charged.

International bodies like the ICC were created after World War Two to prevent the reoccurrence of horrors and future genocides after the Holocaust, the Prime Minister said.

“Yet now the International Court is trying to put Israel in the dock. It’s trying to put us in the dock as we defend ourselves against genocidal terrorists and regimes, Iran of course, that openly works to destroy the one and only Jewish state,” he said.

Pointing to the partly violent, anti-Israel and antisemitic protests across university campuses in the U.S., Netanyahu said ICC arrest warrants would effectively brand Israeli leaders as war criminals.

This, he added, “will pour jet fuel on the fires of antisemitism, those fires that are already raging on the campuses of America and across capitals around the world.”

Israel is currently undertaking a concerted effort on multiple fronts to combat the ICC’s plans, including action by the Prime Minister’s Office, the National Security Council, and the Foreign Ministry.

Netanyahu also asked U.S. President Joe Biden for assistance during a phone call on Sunday, the Axios news outlet reported.

“Rather than commend Israel for abiding by the rules of war while fighting an enemy that violates every rule of war, including holding 133 Israeli men, women and children hostage, who’s the ICC targeting? The democracy called Israel,” Netanyahu continued.

This threatens the inherent right of all democracies to defend themselves against terrorism and aggression, the prime minister noted, especially since the ICC doesn’t have jurisdiction over Israel.

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