Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to American television Tuesday morning to accuse the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor seeking his arrest of being “out to defame Israel.”


What You Need To Know

  • In an interview with ABC News' "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court of seeking to "defame Israel"

  • Khan said Monday he is seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel

  • Netanyahu called the allegations “absurd” and “beyond outrageous" and cited Israel's humanitarian efforts in Gaza while accusing Hamas of hampering the delivery of aid

  • President Joe Biden and congressional lawmakers have condemned the action from the ICC; Netanyahu praised Biden for his support in the interview

In the interview with ABC News’ “Good Morning America,” Netanyahu also praised U.S. President Joe Biden for criticizing prosecutor Karim Khan over his request for an arrest warrant for the Israeli leader. 

“This guy is out to demonize Israel,” Netanyahu said. “He's doing a hit job. He's creating a false symmetry between the democratically elected leaders of Israel and the terrorist chieftains.

“That's like saying after 9/11, ‘Well, I'm issuing arrest warrants for George [W.] Bush, but also for bin Laden.’ Or after World War II, ‘Well, I'm issuing arrest warrants for FDR, but also for Hitler.’”

Khan said Monday he is seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.

Speaking of the Israeli actions, Khan said “the effects of the use of starvation as a method of warfare, together with other attacks and collective punishment against the civilian population of Gaza are acute, visible and widely known. … They include malnutrition, dehydration, profound suffering and an increasing number of deaths among the Palestinian population, including babies, other children, and women.”

Netanyahu called the allegations “absurd” and “beyond outrageous.” He said Israel is providing half of Gaza’s water — up from 7% before the war — has allowed 20,000 trucks carrying food and medicine into the Palestinian enclave and has used text messages, phone calls and leaflets to urge civilians to leave areas before Israeli attacks. 

Netanyahu also accused Hamas of looting aid trucks, preventing supplies from reaching civilians.

“We don't have a deliberate starvation policy,” Netanyahu said. “In fact, we have the opposite policy — to allow maximum humanitarian aid, to get people out of harm's way while Hamas is doing everything to keep them in harm's way at gunpoint.”

Biden called Khan’s request “outrageous” in a statement Monday, adding: “Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”

“I was very glad to see that President Biden called them outrageous, as did many leaders [with] bipartisan support across the United States,” Netanyahu said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Monday the Republican-led House may vote to sanction the ICC for seeking the Netanyahu arrest warrant.

A panel of three judges will decide whether to issue the arrest warrants and allow a case to proceed. The judges typically take two months to make such decisions.

Israel is not a member of the court, so even if the arrest warrants are issued, Netanyahu and Gallant do not face any immediate risk of prosecution. But the threat of arrest could make it difficult for the Israeli leaders to travel abroad.

Netanyahu told “Good Morning America” he’s not worried about traveling. 

“I'm not concerned at all about our status,” he said. “I think that the prosecutor should be concerned about his status because he's really turning the ICC into a pariah institution. People are just not going to take it seriously.”

The Israeli leader said he hopes the judges will reject Khan’s request to issue an arrest warrant for him, adding, “That will make them into a kangaroo court.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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