From the Liveblog of
Monday, May 20, 2024
Lapid says including Israeli leaders in same ICC charges as Hamas is ‘unforgivable’
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid dismisses the decision of International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan to seek arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as well as Hamas terror leaders, declaring that Israel will “not accept a comparison to Hamas.”
“It is not possible to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Sinwar and Deif. There is no such comparison, we cannot accept it and it is unforgivable,” he says, calling the decision “a terrible political failure.”
Khan is also seeking warrants against three Hamas leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh.
“I expect the American administration to condemn the arrest warrants. I believe they will stand behind us,” Lapid says.
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