Ex-Israeli Defense Minister intends to resign from parliament and retire from politics

Wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant announced on January 1 his decision to resign his parliamentary mandate and temporarily retire from politics.

"I recently submitted my resignation from the Knesset to the Speaker of the Knesset. I am doing this after 45 years of mission and service to the State of Israel. Both on the battlefield and in public service, there are times when one must stop, assess the situation and choose a course of action in order to achieve the necessary goals," his message on social network X (formerly Twitter) reads.

Taking prisoners: Red Cross ready to help free Gaza hostages

Hamas and Israel accuse each other of stalling negotiations

On November 21, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former head of the country's Defense Ministry Yoav Galant. The decision was reasoned that they "continue criminal acts" and should be aware of the existence of the warrants in the interests of the victims and their families. Netanyahu's office, commenting on the issuance of the warrant, accused the ICC of isolating the country and "facilitating terrorist acts" against the Jewish state.

In turn, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp noted that the Netherlands is ready to arrest Netanyahu if he arrives in the country. Later, on December 5, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Sheina said that Poland is also ready to execute the ICC arrest warrant against Netanyahu.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on November 22 that the ICC's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Galant would in no way help end the conflict in the Middle East.

On November 25, the Financial Times reported that the ICC's issuance of an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant could lead to a split in the Western world. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani then called on the G7 countries to take a unified position on the issue.

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