In an unprecedented move, a lawsuit has been filed in South Korea against seven high-ranking Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
This marks the second complaint against Ben-Gvir since the outbreak of the war (the first was filed in Norway, but the case was closed), and the first complaint against Smotrich.
The lawsuit demands the prosecution of these Israeli officials for alleged crimes committed during the current war. The complaint was lodged with the South Korean Police Investigation Agency by an organization called People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy(PSPD), known for its left-leaning political stance.
According to PSPD, the Israeli officials are implicated in the planning, ordering and execution of crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes. These include crimes against humanitarian activities and unique symbols, attacks on medical institutions and ambulances, the use of prohibited chemical weapons, and the employment of illegal warfare methods, such as starvation.
The organization is calling for the extradition of the seven officials to South Korean investigative authorities and their prosecution under South Korea's "Punishment for Crimes Under the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court Act." The next step involves the South Korean police deciding whether to forward the case to the district prosecutor for further action.
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Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, under South Korean investigation
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky, Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
Ynet has learned that the Foreign Ministry has advised Ben-Gvir and other officials named in the complaint to consult with them before any future travel to South Korea to avoid unnecessary risks. The Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General's Office are involved in the case, working to provide legal defense for all the officials.
"Minister Ben-Gvir will continue to assert, loud and clear, that Hamas must be destroyed, to encourage the voluntary emigration of Gazans to other countries, to settle in Gaza – and will continue efforts to arm citizens with personal firearms and establish more and more emergency response teams across Israel," the national security minister's office said in a statement in response to the charges. "These measures are essential to ensure that what happened in Israel on October 7 never happens again. Such an inquiry or another does not deter Minister Ben-Gvir from continuing to make these statements and act for the people of Israel."