Israel’s far-right finance minister claims the ICC prosecutor filed an arrest warrant request, accusing the Palestinian Authority of pushing for the move.
JERUSALEM: Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich (pic) said on Tuesday that the International Criminal Court prosecutor had requested an arrest warrant against him, accusing the Palestinian Authority of pushing for the move.
“Last night I was informed that the criminal prosecutor of the antisemitic court in The Hague has filed a request for an international arrest warrant against me,” Smotrich said during a press conference broadcast on his X account.
“As a sovereign and independent state, we do not accept hypocritical dictates from biased bodies that time and again take a stand against the State of Israel,” Smotrich added, without disclosing the charges for which his arrest was requested.
The ICC prosecutor said its office was “unable to comment on media speculation or questions related to any alleged application for a warrant of arrest”.
The ICC had previously issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024, to face accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity over Israel’s action during its war against Hamas in Gaza.
Smotrich accused the Palestinian Authority of pushing for the latest judicial procedure, calling the moves against him, Netanyahu and Gallant “a declaration of war”.
Smotrich said his first target in retaliation would be the Palestinian Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar, east of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.
“Immediately upon the conclusion of my remarks here, we will sign an order to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar,” he said.
More than 750 people live in the Khan al-Ahmar community, a cluster of shacks and tents around 10 kilometres from Jerusalem’s Old City, surrounded by Israeli settlements.
Peace Now, an Israeli settlement watchdog, denounced the move.
“The Minister of Expulsion and Annexation seeks to take revenge on The Hague and the international community at the expense of one of the most vulnerable communities,” it said.
Khan al-Ahmar sits near land Israel plans to use for its controversial E1 development project that would facilitate settlement expansion in the area near Jerusalem.
Smotrich, who lives in a settlement himself, is a staunch proponent of Israel annexing the West Bank.
“Under this government, we see that for the first time they’ve approved the very sensitive and significant plan of E1, and they’re going ahead with plans to annex that entire region”, Lior Amihai, Peace Now’s executive director, told AFP.
“In order for them to annex the entire region, they need to also expel the Palestinian communities from there and Khan al-Ahmar is one of them,” he added.
