1 min read

News

ICC Arrest Warrants of Israeli Leaders Would Endanger Jews Everywhere

The Simon Wiesenthal Center expressed deep concern over the International Criminal Court’s threat to arrest Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for attacking the terrorist group, Hamas after its mass murder of Jews last October 7th.

The SWC applauds President Biden and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken for their strong condemnations of theInternational Criminal Court’s request for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.

In a statement from the White House, President Biden said:

“The ICC prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous. And let me be clear: whatever thisprosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas.”

Secretary Blinken declared:

“We reject the prosecutor’s equivalence of Israel with Hamas. It is shameful. Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that carriedout the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and is still holding dozens of innocent people hostage, including Americans.”

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Agenda for SWC, said, “Make no mistake. An arrest warrantagainst the leaders of the Jewish State demonizes Israel. It will unleash a new wave of anti-Semitism worldwide. SWC implores other world leaders to join President Biden’s condemnationand denounce this insidious equation between Hamas and Israel; one, a vicious terrorist organization; the other, a democracy defending its citizens against continuing genocidal threatsunder almost impossible circumstances.”


For further information, please email Michele Alkin, Director of Global Communications at malkin@wiesenthal.com or Erik Simon at esimon@wiesenthal.com, join the Centeron Facebook,or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

Aboutthe Simon Wiesenthal Center:
TheSimon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rights organization. It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS, and the LatinAmerican Parliament (PARLATINO).

SWC Statement on ICJ's "Order" That Israel End its Incursion into Rafah

The United Nations top court, the International Court of Justice, just issued a directive that Israel immediately ends its incursioninto Rafah. This...

Read More

Brazilian Court Uses IHRA Definition of Anti-Semitism in Court Ruling on Hate Speech

For the first time in Brazil, a court has utilized the widely embraced IHRA definition of anti-Semitism to attain a conviction foranti-Jewish hate...

Read More