The President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, has strongly condemned the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Speaking to Jüdische Allgemeine, Schuster described the arrest warrant as »absurd« and said: »Israel is defending itself after a massacre by Hamas, which abused not only Israel but also its own population as human shields.«

He particularly criticized »the semantic dualism that puts Israel on the same level as Hamas« and described this as »impertinence«. According to Schuster, equating of Israel with Hamas was a »completely misguided understanding of the office of an international criminal court« and the result of anti-Israel propaganda.

Missing for Months

He concluded by calling on Chancellor Olaf Scholz’ outgoing government coalition to take a clear stand against this decision: »The German government must not accept this perpetrator-victim role reversal«, Schuster stated.

A chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague rejected appeals by the state of Israel on Thursday and issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

The court also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif. However, Deif has been missing for months. Israel has already declared him dead.

Sinwar and Haniyeh

In his application for arrest warrants, chief prosecutor Karim Khan also accused two other Hamas leaders – Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh – of serious crimes. They were »responsible for the killing of hundreds of Israeli civilians« on October 7th, 2023, although Sinwar and Haniyeh have since been killed by Israel.

There were »sufficient grounds« for the crimes charged against Netanyahu and Gallant, the three-judge chamber of the court announced. According to Chief Prosecutor Khan both politicians are alleged to have ordered the starvation of the population as a method of warfare and other inhumane acts as well as an attack on the civilian population while in a position of responsibility. ja