In the wake of Thursday's International Criminal Court (ICC) decision to issue formal arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza, the White House says it "fundamentally rejects" the move and won't recognize it (though the US has never been a member state of the ICC).
"Let me be clear once again: whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security" President Joe Biden said in reaction, agreeing with Israel that it is "outrageous."
But the reaction in Europe has been mixed. While all 27 member states of the EU are part of the ICC, Hungary has been most vocal in rejecting the warrants and The Hague court's ruling, while Germany has said it is "examining" how to respond while signaling it's unlikely to enforce it if PM Netanyahu visits the country.
Source: picture alliance/photothekGermany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Friday, "We are now of course examining exactly what that means for implementation in Germany." According to more:
Whether German authorities would move to arrest Netanyahu or former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, who also had a warrant issued against him, is currently "theoretical", Baerbock said.
Germany is "bound by" the court as a country which recognizes the body and respects international law, she said.
Clearly this has put Berlin, a staunch supporter of Israel, in an awkward position. This was acknowledged when government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit was pressed by reporters over whether Germany authorities would actually carry out an arrest on the Israeli prime minister.
He replied candidly, "It’s hard for me to imagine that we would carry out arrests in Germany on this basis."
The UK has meanwhile said it would conform to the ICC ruling, theoretically at least, as well as the following EU countries:
Despite Hungary's resistance, Italy, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and France have signaled that they would respect the court's decision and potentially arrest Netanyahu if he travelled to one of their countries.
Italy's Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Thursday that although it was "wrong" to compare Netanyahu and Gallant to Hamas, if the pair were to enter Italy, "we would have to arrest them".
This comparison to Hamas remark is in reference to the court having simultaneously issued an arrest warrant for Mohammed Deif, the already slain head of the military wing of Hamas.
The outrageous decision by the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, to seek arrest warrants against the democratically elected leaders of Israel is a moral outrage of historic proportions.
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) May 20, 2024
It will cast an everlasting mark of shame on the international court. pic.twitter.com/NJKYv06fyE
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Below is the full list of all the state signatories to the ICC, who are technically obliged to act on The Hague-based court's warrants:
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
P
R
S
T
U
V
Z
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