Editor-DN
New Delhi:
Condemning the International Criminal Court (ICC), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu likened the court’s arrest warrant against him to the infamous Dreyfus trial of 1894. fabricated evidence.
The ICC’s move charged Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yves Gallant with war crimes in the ongoing Gaza conflict, a decision Netanyahu called “anti-Semitic” and a reflection of a “modern-day Dreyfus trial.” is given
“The International Criminal Court’s anti-Semitic verdict is comparable to a modern-day Dreyfus trial – and it will end that way,” Netanyahu declared, referring to the wrongful conviction of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish French army officer. A landmark case that exposed deep anti-Semitism in late 19th-century France.
The Dreyfus Affair was one of France’s most controversial legal scandals of the 19th century, marked by anti-Semitism and judicial corruption. Alfred Dreyfus, a French Jewish army captain, was wrongfully convicted of treason in 1894 based on fabricated evidence. Deposed in a humiliating public ceremony and exiled to Devil’s Island, a former penal colony of French Guiana, Dreyfus’ plight became a symbol of systemic injustice and anti-Semitism.
French authorities accused Dreyfus of leaking military secrets based on vaguely similar writing scraps of his own. A trial fueled by widespread anti-Semitism resulted in the conviction of another officer, Ferdinand Esterhazy, despite evidence implicating him as the real culprit. The case divided France, with prominent intellectuals like Émile Zola denouncing the injustice in his famous open letter, J’accuse…!
On October 7, the ICC issued warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza following the brutal attacks by Hamas on Israel. The attacks, which killed more than 1,400 Israelis and led to the abduction of hundreds, triggered a massive Israeli military response, resulting in enormous loss of life and property in Gaza. The warrant is the first time an Israeli leader has been targeted by a court.
Netanyahu dismissed the ICC’s moves to accuse Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan of corruption as “ridiculous and wrong” and alleged that the decision diverted attention from allegations of sexual harassment against Khan. Khan has denied these allegations. Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the ICC’s move “a dark day for justice,” while Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the court had “lost all legitimacy.”
Human rights group B’Tselem, however, welcomed the ICC’s actions and called for international enforcement of the warrant. The group called the warrant “an important step toward holding accountable leaders responsible for crimes in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
