'We won't accept hypocritical dictates from biased bodies'

Smotrich says ICC prosecutor has requested warrant for his arrest; orders demolition of West Bank hamlet

Warrant may be sought for far-right leader’s role in expanding settlements, which ICC could seek to prosecute as war crime. He calls the move a ‘declaration of war,’ instructs that Palestinian village east of Jerusalem be knocked down

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Tuesday that the prosecutor’s office of the International Criminal Court in The Hague has requested an arrest warrant be issued against him.

“Yesterday, I was informed that the criminal prosecutor of the antisemitic court in The Hague submitted a request for a secret, international arrest warrant against me,” Smotrich said at a press conference he held to announce the development, and described the move as “a declaration of war.”

It was not immediately clear what charges the ICC prosecutor’s office might be seeking against the far-right minister, although a report in the Wall Street Journal last year indicated that Smotrich is being targeted by the court for the major role he has played in expanding settlements in the West Bank.

These actions are considered a violation of the Geneva Conventions by the International Court of Justice, and the ICC could therefore prosecute Smotrich for such violations as war crimes.

The Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In order to obtain an arrest warrant, the office of the ICC prosecutor submits a request for a warrant to a pre-trial chamber of the ICC. The three judges of the pre-trial chamber review the evidence and legal arguments and then decide whether or not to approve the warrant.

In what he said was a response to the move, Smotrich, who also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry with authority over civilian affairs in the West Bank, announced at his press conference that he was ordering the demolition of the Khan al-Ahmar Bedouin village east of Jerusalem, which the international community has long sought to protect from removal by Israel.

The High Court of Justice approved demolition orders against Khan al-Ahmar in 2018 since it does not have a zoning plan or building permits and is therefore illegal. The state has, however, held off on implementing the demolition orders because of the possible diplomatic backlash that may occur if the hamlet is removed.

In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, after ICC prosecutor Karim Khan filed a public request for the warrants in May of that year. Khan alleged at the time that the two leaders were responsible for the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity due to Israel’s actions during the war in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and atrocities. The court had also initially issued warrants for several top Hamas officials, but dropped them after they were killed by Israel during the war.

“The issuing of arrest warrants against the prime minister is a declaration of war,” Smotrich said at his Tuesday press conference. “The issuing of arrest warrants against the defense minister and the finance minister is a declaration of war.”

“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,” added Smotrich.

Smotrich asserted that the prosecutor’s request for an arrest warrant against him was the result of efforts by the Palestinian Authority to pressure the court to prosecute senior Israeli political leaders, and said that he would “fight back with a vengeance.” He said that he would harm “any economic or other [PA] target” that he can target under his ministerial authority.

In his press conference, Smotrich, who has openly declared his determination to “kill the idea” of a Palestinian state, lauded the success of the current government in approving the establishment or retroactive legalization of 103 new settlements, an unprecedented expansion of the settlement project, although not all of those settlements have been physically built on the ground.

He also extolled the establishment of what he said were 160 farming outposts during the government’s tenure, which he said helps control 247,000 acres of land in the territory.

The farming outposts are not technically legal since they have not received authorization from the cabinet, but government ministries and agencies, including the Defense Ministry, assist in their establishment and protection, together with local municipal settlement authorities in the West Bank.

The owners of these farms and other activists state explicitly that their goal is to seize as much land as possible and expel the Palestinian residents.

Smotrich controls the Civil Administration through his role as minister in the Defense Ministry, but it has not removed the farming outposts, which are a documented source of violence against local Palestinians.

According to the B’Tselem human rights organization, 59 Palestinian communities home to more than 4,023 people in Areas C and B of the West Bank have been forcibly displaced as a result of settler violence since the war, which started following the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and massacres.

Smotrich has also been credited with advancing funding for security and infrastructure equipment for such outposts, which have been distributed by the Settlements and National Missions Ministry led by Orit Strock, a member of the far-right Religious Zionism party, which Smotrich heads.

Prominent Israeli scholars of international law have previously warned that the depopulation of these Palestinian communities could constitute the forcible transfer of a population, which is illegal under international law and a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Israel rejects the jurisdiction of the ICC to arrest or prosecute its citizens since Jerusalem is not a party to the Rome Statute, which founded the court and argues that the membership of the Palestinian Authority does not grant the ICC jurisdiction either, due to explicit provisions of the Oslo Accords.

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Smotrich said an arrest warrant had already been issued against him.