In a meeting in Davos with the president of the UN General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, criticized this Tuesday (20) the arrest warrant of the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which prevents him from participating in events in other countries, such as the World Economic Forum, which is being held in the Swiss city.
According to information from The Times of Israel, Herzog said that this impediment is “a reward for terror”.
“It is unacceptable that shameful international politics — repeatedly deployed against the State of Israel — are being used by international legal forums to prevent high-ranking Israelis, from the only democracy in the Middle East, from participating [da cúpula]a conference that aims to shape the future of the world and the Middle East,” Herzog said at the meeting, according to a statement released by his office.
In 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and a leader of the terrorist group Hamas on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the war in the Gaza Strip.
Due to the arrest warrant against Israeli authorities, the United States government applied sanctions against the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, and the court’s judges.
“Prevent [Netanyahu]or, for that matter, [Gallant]to participate in a global forum that seeks to shape the future of the Middle East, through such legal means, is a reward for terror,” said Herzog.
“Israel is not just fighting to protect its people, it is on the front lines defending the entire free world against the evil empire of the Iranian regime and its terrorist proxies,” the Israeli president added.
Due to the arrest order, Netanyahu has avoided traveling to countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute, which created the ICC – Switzerland is a member of the court.
