Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls ‘war crime’ accusations anti-Semitic and warns of consequences

Hours after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the Israeli Prime Minister responded to the court in The Hague as an ‘antisemitic decision’.

In his video message shared on his official

The Dreyfus case, which Netanyahu mentioned in his video message while attacking the ICC, was a political and judicial scandal that took place in France between 1894 and 1906, in which a Jewish French Army officer named Alfred Dreyfus was wrongfully convicted in an alleged trial. They accused him of treason by selling military secrets to the Germans. He was later found ‘not guilty’ and extradited to the French Army.

ICC indicts Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant Crimes against humanity, including murder, cruelty and inhumane acts, as well as starvation as a method of warfare, are war crimes.

“Now the International Tribunal in The Hague, again presided over by a French judge, repeats this heinous crime. It accuses me, the democratically elected Prime Minister of the State of Israel and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, of deliberately targeting civilians. This is an unfair accusation.” “When we do everything we can to prevent civilian casualties,” Netanyahu said.

He added that Israeli authorities sent evacuation messages to civilians in Gaza through various means to keep them out of danger, while Hamas terrorists did everything to keep civilians in danger, including shooting them and using them as human shields.

The ICC also alleged that the Netanyahu administration restricted basic supplies such as food, water and medical aid to civilians in Gaza, leading to serious humanitarian crises and deaths, including children.

Netanyahu refuted this claim and said that Israel distributed 700,000 tons of food to Gaza civilians, while the ICC accused it of “deliberately” starving the people and claimed that these supplies were looted by Hamas terrorists to deprive its people of food.

Netanyahu expressed his disbelief and said, “In the last few weeks, Israel has facilitated the vaccination of 97 percent of the people of Gaza against polio. This does not prevent the court from accusing us of genocide.” he said.

He also suggested that Israel’s war in Gaza happened immediately after Hamas’ ‘unprovoked’ attack on the Jewish nation on October 7, 2023.

The Israeli Prime Minister claimed that the prosecutor made false accusations against him and the former defense minister just to divert attention from “sexual harassment accusations”.

He harshly criticized ICC judges, accusing them of ignoring ‘real war crimes’ committed in Iran, Syria and Yemen. Netanyahu said, “The court did nothing against the Hamas terrorists who raped our women, beheaded our men, burned babies alive in front of their parents, and kidnapped hundreds of men, women and children to the underground dungeons of Gaza.” he said.

Netanyahu also issued a stern warning, saying that the ICC and those who supported the decision would have to face “severe consequences”. He also called on Iran to wage a proxy war against Israel through Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

Netanyahu concluded: “Our enemies are your enemies. Our victory will be your victory. The victory of civilization over barbarism and tyranny.”

Israel launched attacks on Gaza in retaliation for Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7 last year. The war between Israel and Hamas has led to the deaths of thousands of civilians, while lakhs of others have been displaced. As Israel vowed to destroy Hamas, key infrastructures in Gaza, including hospitals and schools, were reduced to rubble.