Herzog angered by ICC decision to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galant

Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog on November 21 called the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to issue arrest warrants for the country's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Ministry head Yoav Galant outrageous and in bad faith.

"The ICC's outrageous bad faith decision has turned universal justice into a universal laughingstock. It is a mockery of the sacrifice of all those fighting for justice, from the Allied victory over the Nazis to today," he wrote on his X (former Twitter) page.

Herzog pointed out that the instance turned a blind eye to the 101 Hamas captives in the Gaza Strip. In his opinion, the court chose the side of evil, which turned the organization "into a shield for the Islamic movement's crimes."

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also posted a comment on his X (former Twitter) page. In his view, the ICC decree is an attack on Tel Aviv's right to self-defense. He argues that the International Criminal Court has lost legitimacy after its decision.

"From a political point of view, issuing orders against a state that acts in accordance with international law is a reward and encouragement for an axis of evil that flagrantly and consistently violates it," the politician said.

TheICC issued arrestwarrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Ministry chief Yoav Galant earlier in the day.

Prior to that, on November 19, Netanyahu visited the Gaza Strip and declared his readiness to pay the Palestinians $5 million for each hostage released from the hands of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas.

He threatened accountability for anyone who harms Israeli hostages. The Prime Minister said that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has made significant gains in Gaza and Hamas will no longer rule the enclave, and its military capabilities are being "impressively" destroyed.

Last November, Israel refused to cooperate with the ICC 's investigation into the situation in Palestine. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Ben-Dor emphasized that Tel Aviv lacked confidence in the work of the ICC's investigative commission.

At the same time, lawyer Burak Bekiroglu reported that Turkey has prepared a lawsuit to the ICC against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of genocide in the Gaza Strip. Turkey believes that any international outcry or pressure from the court will slow down the violence against infants, women, children and all civilians subjected to genocide.

The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a massive rocket attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip and invaded border areas in the south and took hostages. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinians seek to return the borders between the two countries to the lines that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War. Palestine wants to establish its own state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and make East Jerusalem its capital. Israel refuses to accept its conditions.