Merz to Netanyahu: Don't worry about the ICC, come visit

German leader Friederich Merz told Prime Minister Netanyahu last night (Sunday) that he will be invited to come to Germany, in defiance of the warrant put out for his arrest by the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

According to the Prime Minister's official statement:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, last night, had a warm conversation with Friedrich Merz, who following his victory in the German elections, has become Chancellor-designate, and congratulated him on his victory.

Chancellor-designate Merz thanked the Prime Minister for the conversation and said that he would invite him to make an official visit to Germany, in overt defiance of the scandalous International Criminal Court decision to label the Prime Minister a war criminal.

Last month, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar met with his Hungarian counterpart and held a press conference to address the proceedings in the ICC, which has issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes during the fight against Hamas in Gaza.

In his statement, Sa'ar said that "Hungary, under the leadership of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, is a close friend and important ally of Israel. This is an alliance between two proud, sovereign, free, and independent peoples. I appreciate the significant support of the Hungarian government on the international stage, especially in the European Union and the UN. There is an anti-Semitic attempt to prevent the Jewish state from defending its citizens through legal warfare in these 'judicial institutions' of international politics. We thank you for standing with Israel against the arrest warrants of the International Criminal Court and for inviting Prime Minister Netanyahu to Hungary.

"The International Criminal Court in The Hague is political and corrupt. Its conduct causes great harm to international law as well. It is unprecedented that the ICC targets a democratic state fighting terrorism, operating according to international law and the rule of law. The ICC has significantly damaged its own credibility. The U.S. House of Representatives passed important legislation, and I commend President Trump for the executive order against the ICC. The Hague has chosen to attack Israel's right, the most attacked and threatened country in the world, to defend itself. This is not only legally distorted; it is also morally distorted."