JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday denounced the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant against him for alleged war crimes as “antisemitic,” comparing the ruling to the infamous Dreyfus trial.
In their ruling, ICC judges stated there were reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution, and using starvation as a weapon of war. The accusations stem from what the court described as a “widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza.”
Netanyahu dismissed the charges in a video statement, saying, “The antisemitic decision of the international court in The Hague is a modern Dreyfus trial, and it will end the same way.”
Israel rejects ICC jurisdiction
Israel has consistently rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court, arguing it does not have authority over the nation, which is not an ICC member state. The Israeli government has denied committing war crimes in Gaza, maintaining that its actions were in response to security threats from Hamas.
The ICC, established to prosecute crimes such as genocide and war crimes, does not have its own enforcement mechanism and relies on its member states to execute arrest warrants. Cooperation is often limited when member states are unwilling to comply.
The warrants come amid heightened international scrutiny of the Gaza conflict, which has drawn widespread criticism over civilian casualties and humanitarian crises.
