The United States rejects the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to issue arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former chief of defense, Yoav Galant, a White House National Security Council spokesman said. “The United States fundamentally rejects the court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials,” the spokesman said.

“We remain deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling procedural errors that led to this decision,” he added, saying the United States is discussing next steps with its partners.

"The United States has been clear that the ICC has no jurisdiction over this matter," the spokesman said.

For his part, Mike Waltz, the new National Security Advisor in the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump, denounced the court’s decision, and defended Israeli crimes, accusing the ICC’s decision of “anti-Semitic bias by the International Criminal Court and the United Nations,” vowing to punish them next January (1/20/2025) when Trump takes office.

“The ICC has no credibility, and the US government has refuted these allegations,” Waltz said on the X platform.

His comments reflected broader anger among Republicans, with some calling on the U.S. Senate to impose sanctions on the ICC, which has 124 national members who are theoretically obligated to arrest individuals subject to arrest warrants.

It is noteworthy that neither the United States nor Israel are members of the International Criminal Court, and both have rejected its jurisdiction.

The statement did not mention an arrest warrant also issued by the International Criminal Court against Mohammed Deif, the military commander of Hamas.

Netanyahu's office said on Thursday in response to the court's decision that Israel rejects the ICC's decision to issue an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, describing it as a "biased and discriminatory political body."

Netanyahu's office stressed in a statement that "Israel rejects with disgust the ridiculous and false allegations and accusations against it by the International Criminal Court."

The statement added that "the decision was issued by a corrupt prosecutor seeking to save himself from serious allegations against him regarding sexual harassment, and by biased judges motivated by anti-Semitic hatred towards Israel."

The statement indicated that "Netanyahu will not submit to pressure, and will not back down or stop until all the war goals that Israel set at the beginning of the battle are achieved."

In turn, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar described the ICC decision as a "black moment" in the court's history, stressing that it "has lost all legitimacy."

Sa'ar accused the court of acting as a political tool in "the service of extremist groups seeking to destabilize security and stability in the Middle East," considering that "the decision does not only target Netanyahu and Galant personally, but rather represents an attack against Israel, which faces ongoing threats and is considered the only country in the world that is subject to public calls for its destruction."

On Thursday, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Galant, and Mohammed Deif, commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

The Hague-based court said that "the court has issued arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Galant in cases of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed between October 8, 2023 and at least May 20, 2024, the date on which the prosecution submitted requests for the issuance of arrest warrants," adding that an arrest warrant had also been issued against Al-Dhaif.

For his part, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Thursday that the decisions of the International Criminal Court must be "implemented and respected" and that the Palestinians deserve justice.

This came in response to arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant.

On Thursday, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Galant, and Mohammed Deif, commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.