Israel's Bezalel Smotrich says ICC arrest warrant request is 'declaration of war' Submitted by Sondos Asem on Tue, 05/19/2026 - 11:38 Finance minister says 'we will fight back with a vengeance' as prosecutors at Hague-based court seek his arrest for crimes against humanity and war crimes Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is surrounded by Israeli settlers at a "resettlement" ceremony of Sa-Nur, south of Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on 19 April 2026 (AFP) Off Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich on Tuesday said the arrest warrant application for him at the International Criminal Court amounts to a “declaration of war” and threatened immediate retaliation against Palestinians .  “Last night I was informed that a request for a secret international arrest warrant had been filed against me by the criminal prosecutor of the Anti-Semitic Tribunal in The Hague,” the far-right minister said in a speech reacting to a report by Middle East Eye a day earlier. MEE on Monday reported that the office of the prosecutor of the ICC last month filed a secret arrest warrant application for Smotrich over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. MEE understands that an evidence review took place on Wednesday last week to examine the possibility of two more warrant applications, including one for National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, but they have yet to be filed.