Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has joined Alan Dershowitz on the legal team that will defend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant against the ICC’s arrest warrants.

“I am proud to be on the legal defense for the prime minister against the arrest warrant at the ICC, and I am proud to stand against antisemitism.,” Cuomo declared.

Andrew Cuomo, brother for former CNN journalist Chris Cuomo and son of NY governor Mario Cuomo, has been a strong supporter of Israel.

In a television ad in July, Andrew Cuomo condemned antisemitic rhetoric and slogans at widespread Pro-Palestinian demonstrations, and a voiceover in the ad asked, “Do they really know who they’re protesting for?”

Concerning the ad, Cuomo said, “We’re at a crucial moment in history where antisemitism is spreading unchecked and support for Israel in this country is waning,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement, adding: “This ad does two things: One, tells the truth about Hamas and what happened on Oct. 7. Two: It reminds people that Israel is the victim.”

At a New York event for the National Committee for the Advancement of Jewish Education, the former NY attorney general, Cuomo declared, “This is the moment that counts. This is the moment that is going to be in the history books. …This is the moment that true friends stand up, shoulder to shoulder and fight for the State of Israel.”

Alan Dershowitz, a close friend of Netanyahu, assembled the legal team, which also includes former U.S. Attorneys General, former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, and Fox News host attorney Mark Levin.

Dershowitz makes the case that the ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel, which is not a member.

Israel has one of the best and most independent legal systems in the world, one that is both willing and able to investigate its own leaders. The Israeli courts have convicted and imprisoned a former prime minister, a former president and several ministers. Hamas has no such judicial system,” Dershowitz wrote in a Wall Street Journal column, where he announced Netanyahu’s legal team members. “The U.S. should sanction the institution. This process is already under way in Congress and should be pursued.”

Dershowitz also argues that the ICC is making a false moral equivalency between Israel, a legitimate state defending itself, and Hamas, a terrorist group which massacred civilians on October 7th.

Image - Amos Ben Gershom/GPO