“A dark day. » The expression was used by the entire Israeli political spectrum to comment on the historic issuance of arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant by the ICC on Thursday, November 21. The subject of their indignation, however, varies depending on their political color.
On the right of the chessboard, and among the supporters of Benjamin Netanyahu, the day is dark for “at justice” and for “humanity”in the words of Isaac Herzog. The Israeli president denounced “scandalous decision” Who “transforms universal justice into a universal laughing stock”. Outraged, Benyamin Netanyahu took up the argument of “anti-Semitic decision” by comparing himself to Captain Alfred Dreyfus, wrongly accused of treason because he was Jewish. “By falsely accusing the only democracy in the Middle East, judges are taking away from all democracies the right to defend themselves against terrorists and tyrants,” added the Prime Minister in a video in English.
“Moral blindness”
This decision “puts the State of Israel and the murderous leaders of Hamas on the same level”denounced, for his part, on X Yoav Gallant, former minister of defense. A warrant was also issued against Mohammed Deif, head of the armed wing of Hamas and the only Palestinian leader targeted by this procedure whose death has not been confirmed.
This scandalized tone was unanimously echoed by Israeli politicians, even those who lead the opposition parties. “A shameful decision”, describes Yaïr Golan, leader of the Labor Party, “moral blindness”deplores Benny Gantz, minister who resigned from the war cabinet last June. “These arrest warrants reward terrorism,” castigates Yaïr Lapid, head of the centrist Yesh Atid party.
The strength of the reactions matches the decision of the ICC, of which Israel is not a member: this is the first time that it has issued arrest warrants against leaders of a democratic country. After six months of investigation and resistance to political pressure, the pre-trial chamber found that Benyamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant each carried the “criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity” committed in Gaza since October 8, 2023. Concretely, the two men could be arrested if they traveled on the territory of the 124 member countries of the ICC.
“Arrest warrants won’t move most Israelis”
In what remains of the Israeli left, mainly embodied by civil society movements, the day is above all dark “for Israel”and it's the Prime Minister's fault: “Under Netanyahu’s leadership, Israel has become a pariah state. This is a difficult moment, as much for our history as for our people and our nation,” regrets the NGO Peace Now, one of the largest organizations promoting peace in Israel, which calls for the resignation of the Prime Minister.
“The horrible thing is that the arrest warrants won't move most Israelis, because they don't care, deplores Michael Sfard, Israeli lawyer specializing in human rights. The rampant incitement to genocide, expulsion and annihilation from Gaza has gone unpunished and found its place in people's hearts. We have become a nation where many applaud such crimes and call for more. »
