Smotrich offers fiery response to reported ICC arrest warrant against him

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich did not soften his words, offering a fiery and provocative response to the recent report about the ICC prosecutor's office filing for an arrest warrant against him. 

Originally reported by Middle East Eye, the ICC prosecutor's office filed a request for an arrest warrant over suspected war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of alleged apartheid against Palestinians in the West Bank. The accusations center on the "forced transfer of Palestinians and the movement of Israeli settlers into occupied territories."

If approved, it would be the first ICC warrant ever issued over the claimed crime of apartheid and would make Smotrich the third Israeli official targeted by the court, after PM Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. It was also reported that an investigation is underway concerning National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

The Palestinian Authority is said to have pressured the court to act, arguing Israeli authorities are unwilling to pursue these cases themselves. According to the report, any warrant issued against Smotrich would remain secret to prevent him from evading justice.

Full speech:

Dear brothers and sisters — citizens of Israel,

Last night I was informed that a request for a secret international arrest warrant had been filed against me by the criminal prosecutor of the Anti-Semitic Tribunal in The Hague.

This request joins the unprecedented arrest warrants issued against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant.

The clumsy attempt to impose a policy of security suicide on us through sanctions and arrest warrants will not succeed.

As a sovereign and independent state, we will not accept hypocritical dictates from biased bodies that regularly stand against the State of Israel, against our biblical, historical, and legal rights in our homeland, and against our right and duty to self-defense and security. In this term, I did not make a fuss. I simply did. I did, and, God willing, I succeeded.

I managed to fulfill my duty as Minister of Finance and keep Israel's economy stable in the turbulent waters of a multi-front war that Israel has never known since its founding. And I was also privileged to lead a revolution in the cradle of our biblical, eternal homeland, in Judea and Samaria.

I did not do this just for my friends and brothers who are pioneer settlers. But because that is how I see the good of the entire State of Israel. I did this in the name of and for the citizens of Israel, their safety and security.

I did this to prevent you, my brothers and sisters, citizens of Israel, from a terrible and tangible danger, which today, after the terrible massacre committed against us by the Nazis of Hamas on Simchat Torah, we all understand how tangible it is.

For years, Israel has stammered and been afraid to say the obvious: This is our country, and we will treat it as our own. For the past three and a half years, we have been doing this, and I am proud to lead this dramatic change.

We led a revolution. We thwarted the dangerous Fayyad plan, which was designed to create choke points on Rosh HaAyin, Modi'in, and Kfar Saba. 

We established over 100 new settlements and, along with them, 160 agricultural farms that protect more than a million dunams of state land. We are planning, building, paving, and regulating, making the pioneering settlement enterprise irreversible. 

I am proud of all this. Very proud. 

I thank you, the citizens of Israel, for the privilege you have granted me to do all this on your behalf. Unfortunately, a large part of European countries have never excelled in love for Zion. 

Hypocrisy and double standards have become a hallmark of many of the countries. But this time, the hands are the hands of The Hague, but the voice is the voice of the PA.

The terrorist organization mistakenly called the Palestinian Authority. 

A despicable body established as part of the disgrace of Oslo is the one who, by all indications, is behind the attack on the Israeli Prime Minister and the Israeli government ministers who dare to implement a policy that raises its head in the face of this terrorist organization.

On a personal level, they do not move me. I am willing to pay personal prices to serve my people. It is a price that if I am required to pay, I do so with pride and with my head held high.

But on a national level, they are not harming Benjamin Netanyahu or Bezalel Smotrich. They are trying to harm us as the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance of the State of Israel.

Issuing arrest warrants against the prime minister is a declaration of war. Issuing arrest warrants against the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Finance is a declaration of war.

And in the face of a declaration of war, we will fight back with a vengeance. I am not a submissive Jew. No. The PA started a war and will receive a war.

From today, any economic or otherwise, anything that I can harm within the framework of my powers as Minister of Finance and Minister of Defense will be attacked. Not talk and gimmicks - actions.

I am announcing here the first target that will be attacked - immediately after I finish speaking here, I will sign an order to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar within the framework of my powers as Minister of Defense.

I promise all our enemies. This is just the beginning.