In Israel, the moment of shock was short-lived. Shortly after the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced on Thursday, November 21, that it had issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, Israeli political leaders of all stripes united their voices in opposition to the international court and in support of the prime minister. Netanyahu described the judges' decision as "anti-Semitic [...] comparable to a modern-day Dreyfus trial, and it will end in the same way".
Benny Gantz, the former general at the head of the National Unity Party who joined Israel's war cabinet after the October 7 Hamas attacks before dramatically resigning eight months later, now awaits his chance to succeed Netanyahu. He described the ICC judges' decision as "moral blindness and shameful stain of historic proportion that will never be forgotten." Yaïr Golan, who has taken over the leadership of the Democrats – a political party descended from the Labor left and trying to unite the opposition against the far-right influenced government – also criticized a "shameful" decision and said that "Israel had and will always have the right to defend itself," echoing the language within the government.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Yair Lapid, said that "arrest warrants are a reward for terrorism." An official Israeli source used the same language on Thursday evening, referring to a "victory of terror over justice," an "absurd" decision that "makes the enemies of Israel absolutely happy" and asserting that an "appeal procedure" was under consideration, meaning by this a possible challenge to the Court's jurisdiction.
For Michael Sfard, a lawyer who specializes in human rights defense, the issuance of these warrants is a "giant test" both for the ICC, which "for the first time, is indicting officials of such a powerful country, and whose main ally is called the US, two months before Donald Trump enters the White House," and for Israel. "These warrants paint our country in the darkest shades, those of crimes against humanity and war crimes. This is a decisive moment for the idea we have of our nation. Are we going to continue to close ranks with people who are accused of these crimes, or are we going to reassess the way the war is being waged in Gaza? This is also a key moment for our judicial system, which has just undergone a kind of gigantic condemnation."
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