DFollowing the announcement of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued arrest warrants against Benyamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the Israeli political class united, not only against the decision of the ICC, but also against the international legal body.
Right-wing and far-right coalition ministers followed Netanyahu's lead by echoing his arguments: “The anti-Semitic ruling of the International Criminal Court amounts to a modern Dreyfus trial – and it will end the same way,” he said. said the Israeli Prime Minister.
Opinion shared by Israel Katz, now Minister of Defense, who described the decision as “a moral shame entirely tinged with anti-Semitism”. As for the ICC, he described it as a “hostile, hypocritical and illegitimate body”. He added that “anyone who thinks he can dissuade us from achieving all the objectives of the war will find in front of him a strong country which will act with power in all areas, against all threats.”
Yoav Gallant, recently fired Defense Minister and one of the two accused, also sees the ICC decision as an attempt to hinder Israel's right to defend itself: “The ICC's scandalous decision will remain in the infamy – it places the State of Israel and the brutal terrorist organization Hamas in the same equation [un mandat a également été émis contre Mohammed Deïf, le chef de la branche armée du Hamas éliminé par Israël, NDLR]…it rewards the murder, rape and kidnapping of Israeli children, women and men…The State of Israel will not be deterred: the time when the nation of Israel could not defend itself is long gone…”
The theme of anti-Semitism also appealed to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who declared that the court's decision “is a distorted measure disconnected from reality, which reflects anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel “.
They were joined by the Minister of Justice, Yariv Levin, for whom the ICC decision is “despicable and anti-Semitic” and Itamar Ben Gvir, Minister of National Security, for whom “the International Criminal Court in The Hague demonstrates a once again that it is anti-Semitic through and through. The latter did not lose the opportunity to exploit the situation with its political base, made up of settlers and messianic ideologues, affirming that “the response to the arrest warrants is to apply sovereignty over all the territories of Judea and Samaria.”
Opposition to Netanyahu in unison with coalition against ICC decision
In almost perfect harmony with the coalition, the opposition led by Yaïr Lapid: “I condemn the decision of the Hague court, Israel defends its life against the terrorist organizations which attacked, murdered and raped our citizens, and these mandates of arrest are a reward for terrorism.”
The same goes for Benny Gantz, a centrist figure, who sees in the ICC decision a “moral blindness and a shameful stain of historic proportions which will never be forgotten”.
More surprising perhaps, the first reaction of the most left-wing leader of the political class, apart from the Arab parties, Yaïr Golan, who also denounced a “shameful decision”, while reaffirming Israel's right to defend yourself. He then published a second statement, targeting the Netanyahu government: “The ICC decision is a historic failure for Netanyahu and his government… It is a government that lets out extreme and terrible statements that provide ammunition to the BDS [Boycott, désinvestissement et sanctions, NDLR] and to Israel haters around the world […]. Netanyahu, who is fleeing a state commission of inquiry solely because of narrow political interests and personal cowardice, has, in fact, precipitated this dangerous decision. »
Isaac Herzog: “It’s a dark day for justice”
For Noa Landau, deputy editor-in-chief at HaaretzIsraeli left-wing daily, “Netanyahu intends to transform the international arrest warrants issued against him into a global vote of censure against international law and its institutions.”
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Kangaroo of the day
Answer
A strategy which should not require too much effort since the questioning of international institutions has already been mentioned, in particular by Avigdor Liberman, leader of the right-wing Israel Beitenou party opposed to Netanyahu, who denounced “double standards and the hypocrisy of the international community and UN institutions”, and even by the President of Israel himself, Isaac Herzog, who declared: “It is a dark day for justice. A dark day for humanity. Taken in bad faith, the scandalous decision of the ICC has made universal justice the laughing stock of all. »
A categorical rejection of the ICC and its decision and a refusal to engage in any discussion on the content of the accusations, namely starvation used as a method of war in Gaza and, among other things, crimes against humanity of murder and persecution.
