Smotrich declares “war” on Hague: “An antisemitic court”

The head of the Religious Zionism party, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, responded today (Tuesday) for the first time to the request to issue arrest warrants against him in The Hague: “Issuing arrest warrants against the Prime Minister is a declaration of war. Issuing arrest warrants against the Defense Minister and the Finance Minister is a declaration of war. And in response to a declaration of war, we will respond in kind. I am not a submissive Jew. No. The Palestinian Authority has opened a war and it will receive war. I will immediately sign an order to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar”. Shortly afterward, Smotrich signed an evacuation order for Khan al-Ahmar: “Within my authority as minister in the Defense Ministry. I promise all our enemies: this is only the beginning”.

“I was informed last night that a secret international arrest warrant request was submitted against me by the chief prosecutor of the antisemitic court in The Hague”, Smotrich began. “This request joins unprecedented arrest warrants issued against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. This clumsy attempt to force on us a policy of security suicide through sanctions and arrest warrants will not succeed”.

Smotrich continued: “As a sovereign and independent state, we will not accept hypocritical dictates from biased bodies that consistently position themselves against the State of Israel, against our biblical, historical and legal rights in our homeland, and against our right and duty to self-defense and security. In this term, I did not make noise. I simply did. I acted, and thank God I also succeeded. I succeeded in fulfilling my duty as Finance Minister and maintaining Israel’s economic stability in the turbulent waters of a multi-front war that Israel has not known since its founding. I also had the privilege of leading a revolution in our biblical homeland, eternal Judea and Samaria”.

“I did not do this only for my friends and fellow settlers. I did it because I see it as the good of the entire State of Israel. I did it on behalf of all Israeli citizens, for their safety and security. I did it to prevent you, my brothers and sisters, from a terrible and real danger, which today, after the horrific massacre carried out against us by Hamas on October 7, we all understand how real it is. For years, Israel stammered and was afraid to say the obvious: this is our land and we will act in it as masters of the house. In the past three and a half years we have been doing so, and I am proud to lead this dramatic change. We led a revolution. We thwarted the dangerous Fayyad plan, which was intended to create suffocating rings around Rosh HaAyin, Modiin and Kfar Saba. We established more than 100 new settlements and alongside them 160 agricultural farms that protect more than one million dunams of state land”.

“We plan, build, pave and regulate, turning the pioneering settlement enterprise into irreversible reality. I am proud, Very proud. I thank the citizens of Israel for the privilege you gave me to do all of this on your behalf. Unfortunately, many European countries have never excelled in Zionist sympathy. Hypocrisy and double standards have become a hallmark of many of these countries. But this time, the hands are the hands of The Hague, but the voice is the voice of the Palestinian Authority. A terrorist organization mistakenly called the Palestinian Authority. A disgraceful body established under the shame of Oslo is, according to all indications, behind the harm to the Prime Minister of Israel and Israeli ministers who dare to implement policy against this terrorist organization”.

“On a personal level, they do not impress me. I am prepared to pay personal prices to serve my people. If I am required to pay such a price, I do so with pride and head held high. But on a national level, they are not harming Benjamin Netanyahu or Bezalel Smotrich. They are trying to harm us as Prime Minister and Finance Minister of the State of Israel. Issuing arrest warrants against the Prime Minister is a declaration of war. Issuing arrest warrants against the Defense Minister and Finance Minister is a declaration of war. And in response to a declaration of war, we will respond in kind. I am not a submissive Jew. No”.

Smotrich declared “war” on the Palestinian Authority: “The PA has opened a war and it will receive war. From now on, any economic or other target I can harm within my authority as Finance Minister and as minister in the Defense Ministry will be targeted. No talk and gimmicks, actions. I announce here the first target: immediately after I finish speaking I will sign an order to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar within my authority as minister in the Defense Ministry. I promise all our enemies: this is only the beginning”.

The request against Smotrich at the court in The Hague