Biden declares ICC arrest warrant against Netanyahu 'outrageous,' vows to 'stand with Israel'
President Joe Biden decried the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, calling the action "outrageous."
"Let me be clear once again: whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas," Biden said in a Thursday statement. "We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security."
The ICC announced Thursday that it issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu and Gallant over alleged "crimes against humanity and war crimes" that purportedly took place between Oct. 8, 2023, and May 20, 2024.
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Israel launched a military offensive in Gaza after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack in southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and the abduction of over 200 others. Following Hamas' attack, Israel has faced additional threats from other Iran-backed terror groups, such as Hezbollah.
While the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claims over 44,000 people have died in Gaza since Israel's military offensive began, the tally doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants, nor does it account for the people killed by rockets being launched from the Gaza Strip.
In the warrant, the ICC accused Netanyahu and Gallant of "the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts."
The Pre-Trial Chamber of the ICC, which issued the warrant, asserted that there are "reasonable grounds" to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant "each bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population."
Throughout its military operations, the Israel Defense Forces have shared photos and videos of Hamas rocket launching sites set up at playgrounds and other areas where civilians are likely to be present. Trucks delivering humanitarian aid into Gaza have also been looted, and Israeli officials have also reported that Hamas often steals the aid and sells it for more than it's worth.
On Thursday, evangelist Franklin Graham also condemned the ICC issuing an arrest warrant against Israeli leadership. The son of the late Rev. Billy Graham highlighted the atrocities Hamas committed on Oct. 7, 2023, questioning how the ICC could accuse Netanyahu of war crimes.
"It seems their hypocrisy knows no bounds," Graham stated. "The Jerusalem Post said, 'The International Criminal Court in The Hague, instead of standing as a bastion of justice, has devolved into a stage for hypocrisy and cowardice.'"
Graham, who is the president of Samaritan's Purse, has dedicated ambulances in Israel to honor the medics who have fallen in Israel's ongoing war against Hamas. Earlier this year, Samaritan's Purse donated 14 ambulances to Magen David Adom, Israel's national ambulance and emergency services agency.
"Do you agree? Join me in praying for peace, that this war in Lebanon, Gaza, and Israel can end quickly with the safe return of all hostages," the evangelist added.
Netanyahu issued a statement Thursday that condemned the warrant as "antisemitic," comparing the situation to a "modern Dreyfus trial." The Israeli prime minister predicted that this would end the same way as that trial.
The Dreyfus Affair that Netanyahu alluded to refers to a political scandal that occurred between 1894 and 1906, according to The Holocaust Explained, which is managed by the Wiener Holocaust Library.
Alfred Dreyfus, an officer in the French military, became the focus of an investigation following the discovery of a document in 1894 known as the "Bordereau." The document, which was found in a bin before it was sent to the French Secret Service, offered military secrets to the Germans.
Dreyfus was a suspect because he was an officer in the artillery and he was of Jewish descent. Despite a lack of evidence, the officer was arrested in October 1894 and found guilty a few months later.
Then, in 1895, Georges Picquart, the new head of the Information Service, discovered the true culprit. Dreyfus was granted a second trial in 1899, but he was found guilty again and sentenced to 10 years; however, the French government gave the officer amnesty. Years later, in 1906, the supreme court annulled Dreyfus' sentence, reinstating him to the French army.
"The Dreyfus Affair shows that despite the emancipation and equality of the Jews following the Enlightenment, antisemitism still continued," The Holocaust Explained states. "The Affair divided the nation's opinion, questioning the very morals of the Republic's existence. It left a deep and lasting legacy in France."
Last week, Israeli President Isaac Herzog gifted Biden with an artifact from the Temple Mount inscribed with the name "Joseph." The Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., worked with the Israel Antiquities Authority to create a "photogrammetry" of the object.
The Israeli president thanked Biden for standing with the Jewish state and its people during their "darkest hour." Herzog urged Biden and the incoming administration to prioritize the over 100 hostages still in Gaza and prevent Tehran from fulfilling its "evil intentions."
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
