Amid rumors that the International Criminal Court in the Hague intends to issue arrest warrants against senior Israeli political and defense officials, Minister of Foreign Affairs Israel Katz has instructed all Israeli missions around the world to prepare for a wave of antisemitic and anti-Israel attacks.
Due to the severity of the threats against Jewish communities abroad, Minister Katz instructed the missions to update Jewish organizations on the need to prepare for such incidents, including coordination with authorities to heighten security outside Jewish institutions. Katz also spoke with Minister Amichai Chikli, who oversees the fight against antisemitism, and asked him to act on the issue as well.
"We are expecting the court to refrain from issuing arrest warrants against Israeli defense and political officials. There is nothing more distorted than trying to prevent Israel from defending itself against a murderous enemy that openly calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. If the warrants are issued, they will hurt the commanders and soldiers of the IDF and will provide support for the Hamas terror organization and the radical Islamic axis led by Iran against which we are fighting," Minister Katz stated.
"Israel is fighting a murderous terror organization which attacked it and committed some of the worst crimes in history against civilians who were in their homes and young people celebrating at a festival, including sex crimes of rape, murder, and desecration of corpses of women and girls," he added.
The Foreign Minister emphasized that "Israel is working while observing all the laws of war, accompanied by a strong and independent judicial system, and allows extensive humanitarian aid to reach the population of Gaza in cooperation with international bodies, although Hamas uses the population as a human shield, attacks and makes it difficult to provide aid.
"We will not hang our heads and we will not be deterred and we will continue to fight until the release of the hostages, the defeat of the Hamas terror organization, and the return of our citizens in the south and the north to their homes in peace and security," he concluded.