{"id":33,"date":"2026-05-19T19:39:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T19:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=33"},"modified":"2026-05-19T19:39:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T19:39:33","slug":"israeli-minister-smotrich-responds-to-icc-warrant-by-threatening-more-war-crimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=33","title":{"rendered":"Israeli Minister Smotrich Responds to ICC Warrant By Threatening More War Crimes"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<!-- begin partial\/series-card --><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><i><span>Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a <\/span><\/i><i><span>quick donation<\/span><\/i><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=31\">ICE Separated 145,000 Children From Their Parents Since 2025, Study Estimates<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Israel\u2019s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said on Tuesday that the International Criminal Court prosecutor had requested an arrest warrant against him, reportedly in response to his illegal forced expulsion of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank.<\/p>\n<p>He said he planned to \u201cfight back\u201d by issuing an order to forcibly evict hundreds more Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank.<\/p>\n<p>During a news conference, Smotrich said he\u2019d been informed Monday evening that the ICC prosecutor had secretly requested a warrant for his arrest in April. A formal warrant has not been announced by the court, and the official charges have not yet been publicized.<\/p>\n<p>The Wall Street Journal reported last year that the prosecutor had been considering seeking an arrest warrant against Smotrich for his role in expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in July 2024 was a violation of the Geneva Conventions because it entailed the forced removal of residents in the occupied Palestinian territories.<\/p>\n<p>The ICC prosecutor was also preparing to issue an arrest warrant against fellow far-right settler politician, Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, though there is not yet any reporting to suggest that this warrant has been issued.<\/p>\n<p>Already, the ICC has issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the reported warrant request for what the ICC considers a war crime, Smotrich celebrated the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the West Bank. He boasted of creating \u201cover 100 new settlements\u201d in the occupied territory and \u201c160 farming outposts,\u201d which he said helped Israel to control 247,000 acres of land in the territory.<\/p>\n<p>The United Nations reported in March that over the previous year, more than 36,000 Palestinians in the West Bank had been forcibly displaced by settlement expansion and by violence committed by Israeli settlers.<\/p>\n<p>Smotrich said the court\u2019s issuing of arrest warrants against him and other Israeli leaders was a \u201cdeclaration of war\u201d and said that \u201cwe will respond with war.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom today, every economic or other target within my authority to strike \u2014 whether as Finance Minister or as a minister in the Defense Ministry \u2014 will be attacked. Not with words or gimmicks, but with actions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI announce here and now the first target that will be attacked: immediately after my remarks, we will sign an order for the evacuation of Khan al-Ahmar,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=29\">Trump Adviser Loomer Peddles Falsehoods About San Diego Mosque Shooting Victims<\/a><\/p>\n<p>He was referring to a Palestinian Bedouin village of about 200 people on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem, which has fought a yearslong legal battle against the Israeli government following orders by Ben-Gvir for it to be demolished to make room for a settlement.<\/p>\n<p>The territory is especially significant because it would link two major settlements in East Jerusalem with the Jordan Valley as part of Israel\u2019s ongoing E1 settlement project, which is aimed at constructing settlements so that they cut the Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank in two.<\/p>\n<p>Smotrich, who has led the E1 project, declared last year that the proposal \u201cburies the idea of a Palestinian state because there is nothing to recognize and no one to recognize.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, Smotrich said his order for Palestinians to leave Khan al-Ahmar would be \u201conly the beginning\u201d of his response to the reported warrant request.<\/p>\n<p>Jasper Nathaniel, an American journalist who reports from the West Bank, explained that \u201cSmotrich just announced the official ethnic cleansing of a Palestinian village in response to the ICC warrant for his arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Observers pointed out the brazenness of Smotrich\u2019s declaration in the face of an international tribunal.<\/p>\n<p>Adil Haque, a professor of law at Rutgers University and the executive editor of Just Security, noted the remarkable irony: \u201cThe ICC office of the prosecutor reportedly requested an arrest warrant for his war crimes, so he announces a new one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Along with Ben-Gvir, Smotrich was sanctioned last year by five countries \u2014 Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom \u2014 which subjected them to travel bans and asset freezes.<\/p>\n<p>Ori Goldberg, an Israeli expert on Middle Eastern studies, said international punishments against Smotrich needed to be even stronger after he announced \u201cas stark a violation of international law as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMake the warrants public. Sanction this man and everybody else who foots the bill. EU Leadership \u2014 stop making fools of yourselves as the world is torn asunder,\u201d he said. \u201cShow Israelis\u2026 the jig is up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=27\">Democrats Decry Trump\u2019s $1.8 Billion \u201cSlush Fund to Reward His Own Allies<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ICC reportedly requested a warrant for Smotrich\u2019s role expanding settlements. Formal charges have yet to be issued.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Israeli Minister Smotrich Responds to ICC Warrant By Threatening More War Crimes - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=33\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Israeli Minister Smotrich Responds to ICC Warrant By Threatening More War Crimes - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The ICC reportedly requested a warrant for Smotrich\u2019s role expanding settlements. 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