Criticism Of The ICC Arrest Order, Israeli President: Turning Universal Justice Into Laughing

Israeli President Isaac Herzog. (Wikimedia Commons/Haim Zach/Government Press Office of Israel)

JAKARTA - Israeli President Isaac Herzog criticized the issuance of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, over allegations of war crimes as "dark day for justice and humanity."

"If taken in bad faith, the outrageous decision at the ICC has turned universal justice into a universal laughing stock," President Herzog said.

"This decision makes fun of the sacrifices of everyone who fights for justice, from the Allies' victory over the Nazis to this day," the president said.

The court's decision "regarding the suffering of 101 Israeli hostages brutally perpetrated by Hamas in Gaza," President Herzog continued.

"This decision ignores the use of Hamas cynical against its own people as a human shield. This decision ignores the basic facts that Israel was attacked barbaricly and has the right to defend its people. He ignores the fact that Israel is a dynamic democracy, acts under international humanitarian law, and strives to meet the humanitarian needs of civilians," he said.

By issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, the ICC has "choose the side of terror and crime rather than democracy and freedom, and turned the justice system into a human shield for Hamas crimes against humanity," Accusing President Herzog, who called for "true moral clarity in the face of Iran's evil empire that seeks to destabilize the region and the world."

As previously reported, the ICC based in The Hague, Netherlands issued arrest warrants against PM Netanyahu, Gallant, and Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri who was also known as Mohammed Def on Thursday.

Reported by Reuters, the ICC said Israel's acceptance of court jurisdictions was not required.

Earlier, the ICC faced charges of defamation for delaying a request for an arrest warrant by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for more than five months.