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An International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank could mark a historic moment in international criminal law, legal experts say.
The ICC has filed a secret arrest warrant application for Smotrich over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity including apartheid and forced displacement, British news outlet Middle East Eye reported Monday.
On Tuesday, the Israeli minister confirmed he was informed that the ICC prosecutor is seeking a warrant for his arrest. In a press conference, he called it a “declaration of war,” by the “antisemetic court in The Hague.”
Scholars say the case would be unprecedented because no individual has previously been charged with the crime of apartheid at the ICC.
It would also mark a turning point by holding Israel accountable for its unlawful policies and occupation in the occupied West Bank, they add.
How is apartheid defined under international law?
Under the ICC’s founding Rome Statute, apartheid is classified as a crime against humanity.
Gerhard Kemp, a professor of criminal law at the University of the West of England, Bristol, said apartheid refers to systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over another.
He argued that Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank – including settlement expansion, forced displacement and violence by Israeli settlers – could fall within that framework.
The crime of apartheid can also be perpetrated by an individual who commits inhumane acts in the context of the institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination and with the intent to maintain such a regime, he added.
"If one looks at the situation in the West Bank, for instance, it is clear that the violent actions of Israeli settlers, apparently supported or even instigated by government officials like Mr Smotrich, and actions like the forced removal of Palestinians from their property and land, would qualify as inhumane acts,” Kemp told Anadolu.
Kemp argued that these acts form part of a broader system designed to maintain and even expand Israeli control over Palestinians in occupied territory.
"This is why apartheid charges are long overdue,” he said.
“Such charges against individuals like Smotrich would go to the heart of the matter: the decades-long system of oppression and domination to which the Palestinians are subjected."
John Quigley, a professor of law at Ohio State University, said apartheid is essentially a system of racial segregation.
He noted that the reported charges involving the transfer of Israeli civilians into settlements could also mark a major legal precedent.
“This would also be the first time that this act has been charged against any official of the government of Israel,” he said.
Regarding the secrecy of the arrest warrant request, Quigley said such procedures are common and intended to prevent suspects from evading arrest.
Why is the occupied West Bank central to allegations?
Experts say the allegations against Smotrich focus heavily on Israeli settlement expansion and policies toward Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where violence by Israeli settlers and forced displacement have intensified in recent years.
Kemp said that while international attention has largely focused on Gaza, longstanding unlawful Israeli policies and activities of occupiers in the West Bank have received far less public scrutiny.
Even so, the ICC has been examining Israeli abuses in Palestine for more than a decade.
“It has been clear for many years now that the Palestinians in the occupied territory are subject to a system of apartheid imposed by Israel,” he said.
“And Smotrich seems to be instrumental in this. So prosecutorial action in this regard is warranted and timely.”
Quigley said prosecutors appear to be treating Israeli settlement policies both as violations linked to military occupation and as part of broader crimes against a civilian population.
"The rationale for charging it as a crime against humanity is that, even apart from being carried out in a war situation, they are being carried out against a civilian population in a fashion that the acts are widespread or systematic,” he said.
“The alleged acts could constitute either a war crime, or a crime against humanity, or both."
Could this become the ICC’s first apartheid case?
The legal experts said no individual has ever been prosecuted for apartheid before an international court.
"It will truly be historic if the ICC would approve an arrest warrant for an individual on charges of apartheid as a crime against humanity,” Kemp said.
He noted that a South African court in 2025 approved apartheid-related charges against two former officers from the apartheid-era security police, making it the “first- ever trial of individuals for the crime of apartheid by any court – domestic or international.”
The case remains ongoing.
Quigley said the Israeli case is significant because Smotrich is said to have carried it out in his official capacity as an Israeli minister.
"The ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel as a state, but if a government minister is committing them in his capacity as a government minister, this would mean that the government itself is in violation of international law,” he said.
In 2024, the court also issued arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population as well as the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts amid the war on Gaza.
On Tuesday, CNN reported that Israel believes the ICC may also be seeking arrest warrants for current Defense Minister Israel Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
What lies ahead for Smotrich
Responding to the ICC warrant request, Smotrich defended Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and ordered the demolition of the Palestinian Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar east of Jerusalem.
He also described settlement expansion in the West Bank as part of a “revolution” in what he called the “eternal biblical homeland.”
Quigley noted that when a suspect continues with the same conduct after being charged, the court could regard it as an aggravating circumstance if the person is convicted and sentenced.
Kemp said the remarks pointed to what he described as a continuation of unlawful criminal conduct linked to persecution as a crime against humanity.
"Truly atrocious," he said.
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