Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich confirms ICC working to issue arrest warrant against him, announces plans to demolish illegal Bedouin town east of Jerusalem.
By World Israel News Staff
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich confirmed reports on Tuesday that the International Criminal Court prosecutor has sought a secret arrest warrant against him, and announced an immediate move to evacuate the long-disputed Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar east of Jerusalem.
Smotrich, who also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry with authority over civilian affairs in the West Bank, framed the reported warrant request as a direct attack by the Palestinian Authority on Israeli sovereignty and settlement policy.
“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 antisemitic court in The Hague,” Smotrich said. “The attempt to force on us a policy of security suicide through sanctions and arrest warrants will not succeed.”
The ICC prosecutor’s office declined to comment to Reuters, citing the confidential nature of such proceedings. Two days earlier, the court denied a separate Israeli media report that new arrest warrants had already been issued against Israeli officials, saying no new warrants had been issued in the Palestine case.
Smotrich described the move as part of a legal campaign against Israel and said he would respond by using his authority against Palestinian targets in Judea and Samaria.
“Issuing an arrest warrant for the Prime Minister is a declaration of war. Issuing an arrest warrant for the Defense Minister and the Finance Minister is a declaration of war. We will respond to a declaration of war with war,” he said. “I am not a submissive Jew. The PA launched a war, and a war it will get.”
He said his first step would be the evacuation of Khan al-Ahmar, an illegal Bedouin hamlet east of Jerusalem that has been at the center of a yearslong legal and diplomatic battle.
“Immediately after I finish speaking here, I will sign an order to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar, within my authority as a minister in the Defense Ministry,” Smotrich said. “I promise all our enemies: This is only the beginning.”
Smotrich added that he would target “any economic or other target” within his authority and that the move was not a matter of “talk and gimmicks,” but action.
The Palestinian Authority has long supported ICC action against Israeli officials. Smotrich accused it of orchestrating the court move, saying, “The hands are those of the Hague, but the voice is that of the Palestinians.”
The ICC issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel rejected the court’s jurisdiction and denied the allegations.
The ICC said at the time that its pre-trial chamber had rejected Israeli challenges to the court’s jurisdiction.
Khan al-Ahmar has repeatedly drawn international attention because of its location east of Jerusalem, near the E1 corridor between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim.
Israel’s Supreme Court previously ordered the state to demolish the illegal town, but successive governments delayed implementation amid foreign pressure and diplomatic concerns.
Peace Now condemned Smotrich’s announcement, saying the evacuation was intended “to take revenge on The Hague and the international community.”
Smotrich said he was prepared to pay a personal price for his policies but argued that the reported ICC action was aimed not at him as an individual, but at Israel’s elected leadership.
“Personally, they don’t move me,” he said. “I am prepared to pay personal prices to serve my nation. This is a price that if I must pay it, I will do so proudly and with my head high.”
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