Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday evening that he had decided to appeal the International Criminal Court's decision to issue arrest warrants against him and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, with a request to postpone the implementation of the decision.

Last Thursday, the court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for both Netanyahu and Galant on charges of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, in addition to Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri (Mohammed Deif), the commander-in-chief of the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, whom Israel says it assassinated in Gaza.

Israel had until midnight on Wednesday/Thursday to submit its response to the court's ruling in The Hague.

"The State of Israel does not recognize the authority of the International Criminal Court and the legitimacy of the arrest warrants issued against the former prime minister and defense minister," Netanyahu said in a statement from his office.

The statement added: "Prime Minister Netanyahu met today (Wednesday) with US Senator Lindsey Graham, in his office in Jerusalem."

He continued: "The Senator informed the Prime Minister of the series of moves he is promoting in the US Congress against the International Criminal Court and against the countries that cooperate with it."

Netanyahu's office said: "In conjunction with the moves in Congress, Israel today (Wednesday) submitted to the International Criminal Court a notice of its intention to appeal to the court with a request to postpone the execution of the arrest warrants."

He claimed that the Israeli appeal memorandum "reveals in detail the extent to which the decision to issue the arrest warrants was incorrect and lacked any factual or legal basis."

"To the extent that the court rejects the appeal, it will further clarify to Israel's friends in the United States and the world the extent to which the ICC is biased against the State of Israel," he claimed.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said, “Netanyahu will have to decide in the coming hours whether Israel will inform the International Criminal Court of its intention to appeal the arrest warrants, or whether it will ignore them and wait for the sanctions that the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump will impose on the court.”

The newspaper quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying, "The Americans are planning to impose hellish sanctions on any country that helps the court, and that's how it will end."

“We don’t have to come and beg someone we don’t trust at all,” the official said, referring to the International Criminal Court.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth, "the professional level advised Netanyahu to appeal on the basis that there were flaws in the decision," without further explanation.

"On the other hand, other ministers and officials oppose this, and believe that Israel should ignore the court's decision, because the appeal itself is a recognition of its authority," she added.

Netanyahu held a secret discussion on Tuesday on the issue of arrest warrants, but no decision was made, according to the newspaper.

On Friday, the White House expressed its rejection of the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu and Galant.

This came in a statement issued by a spokesman for the US National Security Council at the White House, in response to a question from an Anadolu Agency correspondent on the subject.

The spokesman, who was not named, said that the United States "rejects the International Criminal Court's decision to arrest Netanyahu and Galant."

He added, "The United States fundamentally rejects the court's decision to issue arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials."

The US spokesman claimed that the International Criminal Court "has no jurisdiction to prosecute Israel."

Following Donald Trump's election as US president in November, incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune called for immediate action on House legislation, pledging to pursue sanctions as a "top priority in the next Congress."

On September 23, Israel filed a memorandum challenging the court's jurisdiction, asking the court's judges to reject the arrest warrant requests against Netanyahu and Galant, but the court later rejected the Israeli appeal.