In the first shockwaves of the ICC`s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant, it`s important to hold onto some basic facts. Israel is a sovereign nation, which suffered an unprovoked attack by a genocidal group dedicated to its destruction. Hamas are terrorist monsters who, on October 7, committed the greatest massacre against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

Yet for over a year, those who would seek to demonise Israel for defending its citizens suggest this is a war between two equal parts. A warped and convenient view of the universe which has provided easy passage for the International Criminal Court to issue arrests for both Netanyahu as well as ‘dead’ Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri .

This egregious move which equates a democratically elected leader with a blood-thirsty terrorist has as Israeli President Isaac Herzog puts it, turned “universal justice into a universal laughing stock”

This shameful move by the ICC should fire a warning salvo for anyone who believes in a free and civilised society. Since make no mistake. The arrest warrants for Israel‘s leaders is now case law for every legitimate cause which fights to protect the innocent and uphold justice.

It goes without saying that in attempting to release the hostages kidnapped by Hamas and to eradicate the threat posed by the terror group a high price has been paid by the innocents in Gaza caught in the crossfire. Of course this is what happens in war. But our common humanity should not ignore that what may be factually accurate is also deeply painful. But fighting a just war is not a war crime.

What`s more, Israel has done as much as it can to warn innocent citizens in Gaza ahead of reprisals against Hamas. That the terrorists devilishly secrete themselves in densely packed areas of the strip is not the fault of Israel. The Jewish view of preserving the sanctity of human life where possible is sadly cancelled out by a death cult which celebrates wholesale slaughter and which uses its citizens as human shields and cannon fodder. Indeed before his death, architect of October 7 ,Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar remained unrepentant of the cost. When asked if it was worth it for 10,000 innocent people to die, in order to free 100 prisoners the reply was, “even 100,000 …”

So much of the ICC`s warrant is not only morally repulsive but factually incorrect. For example, it states that Netanyahu and Yoav Galant are accused of crimes committed from October 8<sup>th</sup> 2023. On that day, Israel hadn`t begun manoeuvers in Gaza – it was still trying to locate its missing, find its dead. Having been in Israel at the time of the attack I can personally recall how details of what had happened on that terrible day were still so unclear.

What exacerbates the perversity of the ICC are all those who should have been legitimate targets for arrest warrants. Not least Vladmir Putin, as well as Bashar-al-Assad, responsible for over half a million deaths in Syria (including through the use of chemical weapons)

In this morally shameful move, the ICC has weaponised international law in order to criminalise a country which has the temerity to defend itself against a barbaric attack. That it has done nothing regarding Russia and Syria and acted towards the world`s only Jewish state tells you all you need to know.

In a fair and free society it is entirely acceptable to criticise the Israeli Government. However it flies in the face of democracy and the rule of law to arrest leaders who have been fairly elected for protecting their citizens.

The only thing to be concluded by the ICC`s shameful, absurd decision is that this was predicated on antisemitism. A reaction based not on hysteria or paranoia but because it reflected the double standards which have fuelled so much anti_jewish bias since the war broke out.

On a recent visit to Israel it was hard to escape yellow ribbons and the faces of the hostages still captive in Gaza. Or the faces of the innocents as well as young soldiers killed since October 7. If Hamas would return the kidnapped, lay down their arms or agree to a peace deal that would guarantee Israeli security this war would be over. But still the missiles fall (with no warning) on the innocent people of Israel and still the people of Gaza are used as pawns by terrorist leaders.

In this tinderbox Israel has no choice but to carry on defending itself, What the ICC has done has and will always remain indefensible.