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Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu released the following statement in response to the International Criminal Court of Justice in The Hague, which has announced it is going to probe alleged Israeli/IDF war crimes against citizens of Gaza during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014.

“Israel rejects the absurd decision of the ICC prosecutor. It’s absurd for the ICC to ignore international law and agreements, under which the Palestinians don’t have a state and can only get one through direct negotiations with Israel.

The rules of the ICC are clear: No state, No standing, No case.

“It’s absurd for the ICC to go after Israel, which upholds the highest standards of international law. Our actions are subject to the constant and careful review of Israel’s world-renowned and utterly independent legal system.

“But this decision is even more preposterous given that Israel is legitimately defending itself against Palestinian terrorists who routinely commit multiple war crimes. They deliberately fire thousands of rockets at our civilians, while hiding behind Palestinian civilians whom they use a human shield.

“And here’s the ultimate folly of this decision –

“It is the democracy of Israel, a world leader in fighting terrorism, which is to be hauled to the dock in The Hague, while the terrorist war criminals of Hamas are the ones who are going to be pressing the charges. I won’t be surprised if ISIS, al-Qaida and Hezbollah follow suit. See, Hamas has already announced that they will join their Palestinian partner, President Abbas, in filing complaints against Israel as a result of this decision.

“So we see here something truly tragic.

“The lofty goals of the ICC are being turned upside-down.

“The court was founded to prevent a repeat of history’s worst crimes, foremost among them the genocide of six million Jews.

“Now the Palestinians are cynically manipulating the ICC to deny the Jewish state the right to defend itself against the very war crimes and the very terror that the court was established to prevent.

Thank you.”

The court’s prosecution announced the probe will be conducted in “full independence and impartiality” to determine if war crimes occurred as is alleged. Hamas jumped at the chance to announce it will happily provide thousands of documents documenting Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

At the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, 27 Teves, Mr. Netanyahu added; “The decision by the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court to begin an enquiry against the State of Israel is the height of hypocrisy and the opposite of justice. I already encountered such phenomena during my years of public service representing the State of Israel both as ambassador to the UN and as prime minister, but this decision by the prosecutor is in a category of its own. It gives legitimacy to international terrorism. We will fight it every way possible and we will also recruit others to fight this absurdity, and they are already being recruited. We will not allow IDF soldiers to face international tribunals. I would also like to say that these steps will not deter us from doing what is necessary to defend the State of Israel and its citizens.

“One of the ways to counter these crude steps, of course, is to strengthen the state and one of the things I am doing is to strengthen immigration to Israel. Today, we will accept a report on the continued removal of impediments to the immigration of Jews from France, Europe and wherever they may be. We also intend to submit at our next meeting a decision to facilitate this implementation.

“An additional step, of course, is to strengthen the Israeli economy. Today, we will welcome Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who is arriving at the head of a large delegation of 100 government officials and 100 heads of leading Japanese global companies. I remind you that the Japanese economy is the third largest in the world and there is a common desire, which found expression in my visit to Japan several months ago, to tighten relations, increase trade and increase investments between Israel and Japan. This fits in with my clear vision to vary our markets. This found expression in my trip to China one and a half years ago and in my meeting at the recent UN General Assembly with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as in the current visit. This is part of Israel’s opening to eastern markets. I emphasize eastern markets not because we want to give up on other markets but we certainly want to decrease our dependence on certain markets in Western Europe. Western Europe is undergoing a wave of Islamization, anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. These waves are washing over it and we would like to ensure that the State of Israel will have varied markets around the world. We would also like to decrease cartelization.

“Of course, we are also advancing the development of Israel in other areas. What interests Japan and also interests other economies is technological Israel. Today, we will receive a report on actions to advance the digital Israel. This is in parallel with our major efforts in transportation infrastructure. We are also building rapid communications infrastructures that are also reducing the social periphery and giving to every boy and girl in Israel access to the world of tomorrow.

“In conclusion, we are also strengthening the State of Israel and all sectors of the population in that we are concerned about the minimum wage. We first raised the minimum wage in 2011, if I am not mistaken, to NIS 4,300, and now we are raising it again to NIS 5,000. I think that this reflects our desire to help all parts of society and I am pleased that it is being done in agreement with employers and workers. This is important for the State of Israel and we certainly welcome it.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)