“There is an undertaking to delegitimize the State of Israel which is extremely serious,” declared Pierre Lellouche in reaction to the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The former minister of Nicolas Sarkozy and Les Républicains MP was the guest of CNews and Europe 1, Friday November 22.
“The refuge of the Jews, which was born from a genocide, that of the Nazis, is itself today considered genocidal,” he said, recalling South Africa’s complaint against Israel filed before the International Court of Justice.
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“At the same time, the action of the Criminal Court [internationale] to directly attack the Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] puts him on the same level as the leaders of Hamas,” continued Pierre Lellouche. “We put on the same level the terrorists who attack and the State which tries to defend itself. »
An arrest warrant issued by the ICC also targets former Hamas military leader Muhammad Deif, accused of extermination, acts of torture and rape, and who was almost certainly eliminated by Israel during a strike in Gaza.
The Gaza war between Israel and Hamas was sparked on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian group’s terrorists invaded southern Israel and massacred nearly 1,200 people, taking 251 hostages, around 100 of whom are still being held in Gaza. . In retaliation, the IDF launched a vast military operation in the Palestinian territory to eliminate Hamas and free the hostages.
Gaza’s health ministry, controlled by Hamas, says more than 44,000 people have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far. This toll, which cannot be verified and which does not distinguish between terrorists and civilians, includes the approximately 18,000 terrorists that Israel claims to have killed in combat and the civilians killed by the hundreds of rockets fired by the terrorist groups which fell inside the Gaza Strip.
Pierre Lellouche obviously condemned the October 7 pogrom perpetrated by Hamas and also deplored the significant number of Palestinian civilian victims in Gaza.
“The Israeli army in Gaza is a horror, why? Because you have a military fortress under an urban conurbation of 2 million men. There is no proper war in a situation like this,” he said.
“The basic question is this: if the refuge of the Jews is delegitimized and openly attacked from all sides, […] and if, moreover, Jews are attacked all over the world because they are considered accomplices of the State of Israel, which is itself a ‘criminal state’, then what are the Jews doing today? »
Lellouche recalled the result of a recent survey, commissioned by the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif) to get an idea of the state of anti-Semitism in France, according to which nearly 20% of LFI sympathizers want it departure of Jews from France. “Where are they going? », asked Lellouche.
“We are in a crazy situation,” he lamented. “We are witnessing the globalization of anti-Semitism, the criminalization of Jewishness. »
Without describing the ICC decision as “anti-Semitic”, Pierre Lellouche considers it “extremely serious”.
“Netanyahu can no longer travel, except to the United States, which does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.” The White House effectively declared that it “categorically rejected” the decision of the International Criminal Court, with Joe Biden deeming the arrest warrants against Israeli leaders “scandalous”.
For his part, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, affirmed that the ICC arrest warrants must be “respected and applied”. This means that Netanyahu and Gallant could be arrested if they travel to the European Union.
French authorities have not yet clarified whether they would arrest Netanyahu or Gallant if they visited the country. The press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifies that France is “faithful to its long-standing commitment to supporting international justice” and “recalls its attachment to the independent work of the Court”.
Last month, Pierre Lellouche was invited to comment on the statements of French President Emmanuel Macron, who notably said that Israel was “sowing barbarity” in Gaza and Lebanon.
Lellouche then criticized the president’s position, accusing him of wanting to “create a buzz”.
