Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the International Criminal Court (ICC) of anti-Semitism after it issued arrest warrants in opposition to himself and his former defence minister on Thursday, calling it “a modern-day Dreyfus trial”.

“The anti-Semitic decision of the International Criminal Court is comparable to the modern-day Dreyfus trial – and it will end in the same way,” Netanyahu stated in a press release, referring to the nineteenth century Alfred Dreyfus affair wherein a Jewish military captain was wrongly convicted of treason in France.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has additionally lashed the ICC’s transfer, saying on Thursday that it had “lost all legitimacy” after it issued arrest warrants in opposition to Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant over the Gaza struggle.

“This is a dark moment for the ICC,” Saar posted on social media platform X, including: “The body calling itself a ‘court’ issued absurd orders without authority… even though Israel is not a member of the court.”

© Agence France-Presse