The announcement by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant sparked outraged reactions in Israel, with Benjamin Netanyahu comparing the Court's decision to a new “Dreyfus trial”.
“The anti-Semitic decision of the International Criminal Court is comparable to today's Dreyfus trial which will end the same way“, declared the head of government in a press release released by his office. Convicted of espionage, degraded and sent to the penal colony at the end of the 19th century in France, the French Jewish captain Alfred Dreyfus was exonerated and rehabilitated a few years later The Dreyfus affair deeply divided French society and revealed the anti-Semitism of a large part of the population.
“Israel rejects with disgust the absurd actions and false accusations against it from the [CPI]“, including the judges”are driven by anti-Semitic hatred towards Israel“, adds Benjamin Netanyahu. The ICC “has lost all legitimacy to exist and act“by behaving”as a political toy serving the most extreme elements working to undermine security and stability in the Middle East“, reacted his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gideon Saar, on X.
The ICC issued arrest warrants on Thursday against MM. Netanyahu and Gallant”for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed at least from October 8, 2023 until May 20, 2024“, and against Mohammed Deif, head of the armed wing of Hamas”for crimes against humanity and alleged war crimes committed in the territory of the State of Israel and the State of Palestine since at least October 7, 2023“, date of the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian movement against Israel from Gaza which sparked the current war.
“It's a dark day for justice. A dark day for humanity“, wrote on X the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, for whom the “shameful decision of the ICC […] mocks the sacrifice of all those who have fought for justice since the Allied victory over Nazism [en 1945] until today“.
The ICC's decisionignores the fact that Israel was attacked in a barbaric manner and that it has the duty and right to defend its people“, added Herzog Herzog, judging that the arrest warrants were “an attack on Israel's right to defend itself” and target “the most attacked and threatened country in the world“.
Itamar Ben Gvir, Minister of National Security, and champion of the far right called for reacting to the ICC decision by annexing the entire West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, and by extending Jewish colonization there.
“Israel defends the lives of its citizens against terrorist organizations that have attacked, killed and raped our people. These arrest warrants are a bounty on terrorism“said opposition leader Yair Lapid in a statement.
A rare dissenting voice, the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem estimated that the ICC's decision shows that Israel has reached “one of the lowest points in its history”.
“Unfortunately, with everything we know about the conduct of the war that Israel has been waging in the Gaza Strip for the past year […] It is not surprising that the evidence indicates that [MM. Netanyahu et Gallant] are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity“, writes the NGO in a press release. It also calls “all States Parties [au traité de Rome ayant institué la CPI] to respect the decisions of the [Cour] and to execute these mandates“.
Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data, including hostages killed or died in captivity in Gaza.
The Israeli military reprisal campaign in the Gaza Strip has left at least 44,056 dead, the majority civilians, according to data from the Hamas Ministry of Health for Gaza, deemed reliable by the UN.
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