Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a public statement this evening (Thursday) addressing the arrest warrants issued against him and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and criticized the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
"Citizens of Israel, this is a dark day in the history of nations." "The International Court of Justice in The Hague, which was established to protect humanity, has today become the enemy of humanity," said Netanyahu. "This biased court decided to issue arrest warrants against me and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, on the fundamentally absurd accusation that we supposedly committed 'crimes against humanity,' while the truth is completely the opposite. This is a moral bankruptcy. It undermines the natural right of democracies to defend themselves against murderous terrorism."
"That court, which accuses us of fictitious crimes, ignores the real war crimes. Horrifying war crimes being committed against us and many others in the world. After the terrible massacre of October 7th, in which Hamas murderers raped women, beheaded people, burned children in front of their parents, and kidnapped hundreds of our citizens—women, the elderly, and infants—they continue to commit war crimes against us, including the continued holding of 101 of our hostages, whom they have not yet released, and we are committed to releasing them, just as we have released 154 of our hostages to date. And what is the International Court of Justice doing in the face of these atrocities? Nothing. Uh.. Sorry, he issued an arrest warrant today against the corpse of Muhammad Deif."
"And what is the Hague Tribunal doing against the real crimes against humanity being committed in many places around the world?" He continued and asked. "Also nothing. Millions of innocent citizens have been murdered or uprooted from their homes in Iran, Syria, Yemen, and other places. Instead of acting against these oppressive regimes, the court chose to level false accusations specifically against the State of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East."
"Everything is upside down, the good becomes bad"
According to him, "This is an anti-Semitic step with one goal: to deter me, to deter us, from exercising our natural right to defend ourselves against our enemies who rise up to destroy us. They accuse the State of Israel of "genocide" while we are acting to defend ourselves from an enemy that is trying to commit genocide against us. They accuse us of deliberately harming civilians, while we do everything to prevent harm to civilians – and this is against an enemy that hides behind civilians and uses them as human shields. They accuse us of starving the population – while we are bringing in hundreds of thousands of tons of food to feed the population, and at the same time Hamas is looting this food and starving the residents of Gaza. Everything is upside down: the good becomes bad, and the bad becomes good."
"But here is the truth: there is no army in the world more moral than the IDF, and there is no country more moral than Israel," he clarified. "Just recently, Israel vaccinated about 97% of the residents of the Strip against polio." What genocide are they talking about in The Hague? No despicable decision there will change the truth."
"The prosecutor's actions drain the concept of 'justice' of its meaning."
Netanyahu continued to attack the Attorney General Karim Khan: "It is not surprising that this outrageous decision was led by a chief prosecutor suspected of serious misconduct, and it is not surprising that this decision was made by judges who have lost all sense of justice and fairness. The prosecutor's actions and the judges' decision drain the concept of 'justice' of its meaning and turn the International Court into a political weapon that has lost its legitimacy as an international legal institution. Israel does not recognize and will not recognize this distorted decision."
However, Netanyahu said, "There is much light in the darkness." I appreciate the heartfelt mobilization of many friends around the world, foremost among them our friends in the United States. They made it clear that this decision will have serious consequences for the court and for anyone who collaborates with it on this matter. "I would like to thank the elected officials in the country across the political spectrum who stood as one against this despicable decision."
"Citizens of Israel, no outrageous anti-Israel decision will prevent us – and will not prevent me – from continuing to defend our country in every way," Netanyahu said in conclusion. "We will not yield to pressure." Together we will stand, together we will fight, and with God's help – together we will win!
