Knesset speaker says ICC warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant ‘assault on justice, truth, and the universal right of self-defense’

“Targeting the democratically elected leaders of Israel, the Middle East’s only democracy and the world’s only Jewish state, is nothing short of an assault on justice, truth, and the universal right of self-defense,” asserts Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.

Responding to the International Criminal Court’s announcement that it is issuing arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, Ohana declares that its “decision marks a dark day in the history of international law.”

“Rather than upholding the principles of justice, the ICC has chosen to politicize its mandate, turning itself into a tool of terrorists and those who seek to delegitimize Israel’s right to exist and defend its citizens from genocidal terror,” Ohana charges.

Arguing that “the only crimes against humanity in this war are those committed on October 7 against Israel by Hamas,” Ohana insists that “Israel will not be intimidated” and that under Netanyahu’s leadership will “continue to wage a just and determined war against those who seek our destruction.”

“Democracies worldwide should take heed of the dangerous precedent this decision sets, threatening all nations fighting the scourge of terrorism. Today it is Israel; tomorrow, it could be any democracy standing on the frontlines of justice and freedom against,” Ohana warns.

Responding to the court’s issuance of a further warrant against Hamas’s Mohammed Deif, Ohana quips that it “didn’t get the memo.” Israel says it killed Deif in an airstrike, but Hamas has never formally acknowledged the death of the shadowy head of its military wing.