Chairman of the left-wing Meretz party Nitzan Horowitz sparked outrage in Israel for his expression of support on Motzei Shabbos for the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open a probe into Israeli “war crimes.”

“I think there is room for the ICC’s decision,” Horowitz said in an interview with Channel 13 News. “Israel needs to ask itself what it could have done to prevent this.”

Horowitz claimed that the decision of the court in the Hague is legitimate because Israel refuses to negotiate with the Palestinians and “builds in the settlements as if there is no tomorrow.”

The Likud responded to Meretz’s comments by stating: “Nitzan Horowitz is abandoning the IDF soldiers who protect him and all of us. The decision of the court in the Hague is an anti-Semitic decision and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will fight against it.”

“We won’t sit with Meretz,” said Yamina leader Ayelet Shaked. “Nissan Horowitz’s statement, which justifies the anti-Semitic and political actions of the court in the Hague and its persecution of IDF soldiers, is a disgrace to the Knesset of Israel.”

“A miserable statement by Nitzan Horowitz at the expense of IDF soldiers,” stated Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope party. “No campaign justifies support for an anti-Semitic decision and Horowitz should apologize.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the ICC’s decision last week, saying that “the United States firmly opposes and is deeply disappointed by this decision. The ICC has no jurisdiction over this matter. Israel is not a party to the ICC and has not consented to the Court’s jurisdiction, and we have serious concerns about the ICC’s attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel.”

“The Palestinians do not qualify as a sovereign state and therefore, are not qualified to obtain membership as a state in, participate as a state in, or delegate jurisdiction to the ICC.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)