Israel to Appeal Against 'Absurd' Arrest Warrants by ICC for Netanyahu, Gallant

Jerusalem: The Prime Minister's Office of Israeli PM Netanyahu has confirmed that they will be appealing against the arrest warrants issued for Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant by the International Court of Justice (ICC). The Israeli PMO has also termed the warrants as ‘absurd'.

Israel to Appeal Against ICC's Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant

Israeli PM Netanyahu's Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has issued a brief statement to the media that they will be appealing against the arrest warrants issued for the Israel Prime Minister and former Defence Minister. They have also requested for the delay in implementation of these warrants as despite it being issued, the ICC has the discretion to suspend the warrants with a pending appeal. 

PMO's statement to the media read, “The State of Israel rejects the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, and the legitimacy of the arrest warrants that were issued against the prime minister and the former defense minister.”

Israel Terms Arrest Warrants as ‘Absurd’ 

While announcing an appeal against the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, the Israeli PMO has also termed these warrants as ‘absurd' and ‘without foundation' i.e. baseless. The statement said, “Israel’s appeal notice exposes in detail just how absurd the issuance of arrest warrants was and how it lacks any factual or legal basis.”

An announcement by the PMO has also been made that the Israel Prime Minister met Lindsey Graham, US Republican Senator in Jerusalem where he was updated by the Senator on ‘a series of steps that he is advancing in the US Congress against the ICC and against countries that have cooperated with it'.

International Court of Justice Issued Arrest Warrants Against Netanyahu, Gallant

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant. The charges of the court against Netanyahu are severe. The three-judge panel unanimously said that he and Gallant are “co-perpetrators for committing the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.

The judges also “found reasonable grounds to believe that they bear criminal responsibility” … “for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population”. The charges are also backed by the work of the International Court of Justice, which has found that it is “plausible” that Israel has committed acts in Gaza that violate the Genocide Convention.

What Will Happen if Netanyahu is Arrested?

If arrested, Netanyahu would go through a trial, and he could then be acquitted, or convicted. In the latter case, Netanyahu would join the ranks of leaders considered perpetrators of crimes against humanity, such as Charles Taylor of Liberia, Hissène Habré of Chad, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Augusto Pinochet of Chile, Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia, Radovan Karadžić of Serbia, Idi Amin of Uganda, Pol Pot of Cambodia, Joseph Stalin of the former Soviet Union, Mao Zedong of China, and Adolf Hitler of Germany.

Along with Netanyahu and Gallant, the ICC has also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas leader Mohammed Deif. The court claims both sides have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes from the day Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 onwards. Although a warrant was issued for Deif, Israel has said he was killed in an air strike in July. But Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this claim. If they were ever to be judged at the ICC, a conviction is conceivable.

(Inputs from AP)