Netanyahu accuses ICC of ‘antisemitic hatred toward Israel’ for arrest warrant

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired back at the International Criminal Court, accusing its judges of holding antisemitic hatred toward Israel after they issued a warrant for his arrest over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Netanyahu personally rebuked ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan on Wednesday. 3 The Hague put out arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant. REUTERS

The decision was made by a corrupt chief prosecutor attempting to save himself from serious allegations of sexual harassment, and by biased judges driven by antisemitic hatred toward Israel, Mr Netanyahu said, according to The Telegraph.

Netanyahu is the first leader of a modern Western democracy to be wanted by the worlds highest criminal court. 

The tribunal in The Hague has also accused his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of war crimes.

US officials slammed the ICCs decision as a dangerous act that undermines the Jewish states right to defend itself. 3 International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan accused the Israeli and Hamas leaders of engaging in war crimes over the conflict in Gaza. REUTERS

The United States fundamentally rejects the Courts decision to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials. We remain deeply concerned by the Prosecutors rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision, said a White House National Security Council spokesperson. 

The US is not a member of the ICC and the court has never arrested anyone on US soil in the past. Israel also is not a member. 3 The warrants risk further isolating Israel as the war in Gaza has now spread to Lebanon. Fadal Itani/UPI/Shutterstock

Along with the Israeli leaders, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Mohammed Deif, the supreme commander of Hamass military wing who orchestrated the Oct. 7 terrorist attack that killed more than 1,200 people and started the war.