Israeli minister calls ICC arrest warrant requests “declaration of war”

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant against him, describing the move as “a declaration of war.”

"I have been informed that the prosecutor of the antisemitic court has submitted a request for a fundamental international arrest warrant against me," Smotrich told reporters at a press conference in Jerusalem.

"This request joins the unprecedented arrest warrants issued against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

This clumsy attempt to force upon us a policy of security suicide through sanctions and arrest warrants will not succeed.

As a sovereign and independent state, we will not accept hypocritical dictates from biased bodies that repeatedly stand against the State of Israel — against our biblical, historical, and legal rights in our homeland, and against our right and duty to self-defence and security," he said.

Smotrich described legal proceedings targeting Israeli officials at the ICC and ICJ as “not a diplomatic struggle and not a legal struggle,” but rather “a declaration of war by a hostile entity against the State of Israel.”

As part of Israel’s response, Smotrich said he would sign a military order to immediately evacuate Khan al-Ahmar, a site in the Judean Desert where Palestinian Bedouin have allegedly erected illegal structures. Israel has sought for years to relocate the community, which is located in the strategic E1 corridor between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim.

Following the press conference, Smotrich’s office published a letter in which he instructed Hillel Roth, his representative in the Israeli Defence Ministry’s Civil Administration, to take “all necessary measures” to carry out the evacuation as soon as possible.

“I promise all our enemies: This is only the beginning,” Smotrich said.

“From today onward, every economic or other target I can act against within my authority as finance minister or as a minister in the Defence Ministry will be targeted—not with words and gimmicks, but with actions,” he added.

In 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in connection with the war against Hamas in Gaza, which followed the October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.

Following US President Donald Trump’s reelection, Washington imposed sanctions on February 6, 2025, against four ICC judges over investigations involving US citizens and US allies.

By Vafa Guliyeva