ICC eyeing secret arrest warrant for Israeli minister on apartheid charges – report

After the International Criminal Court denied secret arrest warrants issued for Israeli officials, sources say prosecutors are seeking a warrant against a senior Israeli government minister.

By World Israel News Staff

The International Criminal Court prosecutor’s office has reportedly asked judges to approve a sealed arrest warrant for Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionist Party), widening the court’s scrutiny of Israeli officials beyond its existing warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Middle East Eye reported that the request was filed last month and accuses Smotrich of crimes linked to accusations against Israel relating to Judea and Samaria, including allegations of forced displacement, the transfer of Israeli civilians into “occupied territory,” persecution and apartheid.

Ynet said two sources familiar with the matter described the report as credible.

If approved, the warrant would make Smotrich the third senior Israeli official to face an ICC arrest warrant in the Palestine case, after Netanyahu and Gallant. It would also mark the first time an international tribunal issued an arrest warrant involving the crime of apartheid, according to the report.

The ICC has not publicly confirmed the reported request.

On Sunday, after a separate report that new warrants had already been issued for Israeli officials, ICC spokesperson Oriane Maillet said that account was “not accurate” and that the court “denies the issuance of new arrest warrants in the situation in the state of Palestine.”

The distinction is significant: A sealed application by prosecutors would not mean judges have approved a warrant.

ICC arrest warrant requests are often handled confidentially, and The Guardian reported last year that judges had ordered the prosecutor not to publicize future applications in the Palestine investigation without judicial permission.

The ICC prosecutor’s office is also reportedly examining possible action involving National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and other Israeli officials, though no warrant request has been filed against Ben-Gvir.

Last week, a meeting was reportedly held to review evidence regarding Ben-Gvir.

Ynet reported that other names discussed include Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and senior military officers, but said no decision had been made in those cases.

The Palestinian mission to The Hague recently sent a letter to the court’s deputy prosecutors alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity by Israeli security personnel and civilians.

“The urgency to take action now cannot be overstated in any way, with the erasure and the destruction of the Palestinian people, as manifested by an illegal occupant, materializing by the day,” the Palestinian delegation wrote.

Bezalel SmotrichICCICC arrest warrantInternational Criminal Court