– A "political bomb:" this is how many media outlets and experts have characterized the ICC's ruling. Is the verdict really that serious?
– Not even close! It’s more like a moral bomb, a colossal ethical failure. For over a year, Israel has been fighting terror organizations intent on wiping us off the map. These are groups that have massacred civilians in their homes, burned entire families alive, raped women, and continue to hold over 100 hostages. What does the ICC's decision signal? That democratic societies have no right to fight against evil. And all this based on false "evidence" supplied by a terrorist organization.
The ICC should be an important institution. But this was a grave mistake, one that's also undermines the role of international law.
– Why would they do something like that?
– I can’t speak to their motives, but they’ve certainly made a mistake. By targeting Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Joav Gallant, they haven’t just attacked two individuals; they've targeted the entire Israeli society. Across the political spectrum, everyone in Israel agrees: we are waging a just war. We all know the accusations against us are false.
– Let’s examine the accusations. The ICC claims that Israel used starvation as a weapon during its Gaza operation and deliberately targeted civilians.
– Look, just recently, UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) announced that it'd sent around 100 trucks full of aid into Gaza. We fully supported these deliveries, allowing them to cross freely. What happened? Hamas looted 97 of those trucks before they could reach their intended recipients. Of course, UNRWA conveniently remained silent about who had stolen the supplies. The reality is that UNRWA cannot effectively manage the aid distribution efforts because it is infiltrated by terrorists - some of whom were directly involved in the October 7 attacks.

– And what about the civilians?
– When they discuss the number of casualties, they rarely note that 17,000 to 20,000 of those killed were terrorists. But we could also revisit last year’s incident, when an alleged rocket attack on a hospital - widely reported on in the international media - claimed 500 lives. Later, it emerged that the strike actually hit a parking lot, not the hospital; the death toll was 50, not 500, and - most importantly - the rocket was fired not by Israel but by Islamic Jihad. In fact, 11 percent of rockets launched from Gaza misfire and land within their own territory. So, what I'm trying to say is that these are all added to the overall casualty figures. Moreover, a 2022 UN report states that urban combat typically results in nine civilian deaths for every militant killed. Even if we were to trust Hamas’s statistics, this ratio in Gaza is one-to-one!
Of course, even a single civilian death is tragic. War is hell.
But we do everything in our power to minimize civilian suffering: we send aid, we warn civilians before strikes. How can anyone call this deliberate genocide?