Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz – a political rival of Benjamin Netanyahu – has denounced the decision of the ICC’s prosecutor to apply for an arrest warrant for the PM.

“Drawing parallels between the leaders of a democratic country determined to defend itself from despicable terror to leaders of a bloodthirsty terror organisation is a deep distortion of justice and blatant moral bankruptcy,” he posted on X.

He also urged Netanyahu to ignore the “antisemetic court”.

The leader of the opposition Yair Lapid condemned the announcement by calling it “a disaster”.

“It’s unforgivable. We have and we are managing a just war, and it needs to be clear that we won’t stay silent over it,” he said.