US ‘fundamentally rejects’ ICC decision, says White House
The US “fundamentally rejects” a decision by the international criminal court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the country’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant, the White House said.
A statement from a US national security council spokesperson reads:
We remain deeply concerned by the Prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision. The United States has been clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter.
The US – which is not an ICC member – has previously welcomed ICC war crimes warrants against Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials for atrocities committed in Ukraine. Washington has previously denounced the court’s pursuit of Netanyahu and Gallant, a mixed stance which has exposed the Biden administration to accusations of double standards from many UN members, particularly from the global south.
Key events
Jeremy Corbyn, the former UK Labour leader, has called on the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and foreign secretary David Lammy to immediately endorse the “long overdue” arrest warrant by the international criminal court.
“That is the bare minimum,” Corbyn posted to X.
Will the UK government now, finally, honour its international obligations to prevent genocide and end all arms sales to Israel?
UK expected to agree if ICC request Netanyahu arrest
Peter Walker
The UK is expected to agree to any request from the international criminal court (ICC) to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he came to Britain, although Downing Street refused to directly confirm this, saying only that it would “respect” the court’s independence.
Questioned about what Keir Starmer’s government would do, the PM’s spokesperson – who by convention speaks on the record but is not named – said:
We respect the independence of the international criminal court, which is the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern.
This government has been clear that Israel has a right to defend itself in accordance with international law – there is no moral equivalence between Israel and democracy and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, which are terrorist organisations.
We remain focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the devastating violence in Gaza. This is essential to protect civilians, ensure the release of hostages, and to increase humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Asked whether this meant the government would abide by the ICC’s view over Netanyahu, as set out last month by Richard Hermer, the attorney general, last month, the spokesperson refused to comment, but added:
There has not been a policy change in relation to our position on the ICC.
There is a UK-based court procedure which would need to happen to approve any ICC request, the spokesperson added, but refused to say if Netanyahu would be welcome to visit the UK, saying he could not deal with “hypotheticals”.
It does seem clear that the UK would not block the ICC over this, but that No 10 is being cautious, not least given US opposition to the idea.
Here’s some more US reaction to the international criminal court’s arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader, said:
The decision by the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials is shameful. I stand with the Biden administration in fundamentally rejecting this unserious decision. America’s commitment to the security of Israel is ironclad and we will continue to stand by Israel’s right to defend itself against terror.
Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress, said the ICC’s decision was “long overdue” and called for Netanyahu and Gallant to be arrested and brought before the court.
The Biden Administration can no longer deny that those same US weapons have been used in countless war crimes … Today’s historic arrest warrants cannot bring back the dead and displaced, but they are a major step towards holding war criminals accountable.
Jared Moskowitz, a Democratic congressman from Florida, accused the ICC of turning a “blind eye to many atrocities, including Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons to kill hundreds of thousands of Syrians.”
When it comes to Israel defending itself against Hamas, the ICC doesn’t hesitate to exercise this antisemitic double standard.
Bill Hagerty, the Republican senator from Tennessee, also accused the ICC of “engaging in anti-semitic lawfare”, adding:
This sham of a body masquerading as a “court” has no jurisdiction over Israel or the US. The consequences of this shameful act will be felt soon.
The Palestinian Authority has welcomed the international criminal court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
In a statement carried by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, it said the court’s decision “restores hope and trust not only in international law along with UN institutions, but also in the importance of justice, accountability and prosecution of war criminals”.
The Palestinian people is still subject [to] genocide, war crimes taking the form of the deployment of starvation [as] a method of warfare, and crimes against humanity manifest in killing, oppression and displacement, among others.
UK ‘respects the independence’ of ICC, says Downing Street
The UK government “respects the independence of the international criminal court”, a No 10 spokesperson has said after the ICC issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif.
The court is “the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern,” the spokesperson for the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, said.
Downing Street would not say if Netanyahu would be arrested if he visited the UK, saying that “we are not going to get into hypotheticals.” The spokesperson added:
This government has been clear that Israel has a right to defend itself in accordance with international law. There is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democracy, and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, which are terrorist organisations. We remain focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the devastating violence in Gaza.
The head of Amnesty International said the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is “officially a wanted man” after the international criminal court’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for him.
The ICC arrest warrant represents a “historic breakthrough for justice”, Amnesty’s secretary general, Agnès Callamard, said in a statement.
She urged “the beginning of the end of the persistent and pervasive impunity at the heart of the human rights crisis” in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Callamard’s statement reads:
The wheels of international justice have finally caught up with those who are alleged to be responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Palestine and Israel.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu is now officially a wanted man,” she continued, as she called on ICC member states and the international community to “stop at nothing until these individuals are brought to trial”.
“There can be no ‘safe haven’ for those alleged to have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity,” she said.
By issuing these arrest warrants the ICC is also at long last bringing real hope for justice to countless victims of crimes under international law and restoring some faith in the universal value of international legal instruments and justice.
What are the implications for the ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu?
Haroon Siddique
The international criminal court (ICC) relies on 124 member states of the Rome statute, which established the court, to execute arrest warrants.
Member states are obliged to arrest individuals wanted by the ICC who set foot on their territory and, while they do not always do so, it means that the accused will have to consider whether they are willing to risk travelling.
Last year, Vladimir Putin decided not to go to South Africa amid speculation that he would be detained under an arrest warrant issued by the ICC for overseeing the abduction of Ukrainian children in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Neither Israel nor its closest ally, the US, are members, nor are the possible venues for ceasefire talks, Qatar and Egypt, although that may be a moot point as none of those charged have attended the talks. Jordan and Tunisia are the only Arab member states other than Palestine.
Another staunch Israel ally, Germany, is a member of the ICC, as are all European Union countries. Switzerland is a member, as is Japan. All Latin American countries, bar Cuba and Haiti, are ICC members, as are 33 African countries.
The ICC has jurisdiction for both alleged crimes committed by a national of a member country and alleged crimes committed in the territory of a member state.
Palestine acceded to the Rome statute in 2015, and the ICC ruled in 2021 that it was a state, thereby extending the court’s jurisdiction to territories occupied by Israel since 1967, Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The international criminal court’s arrest warrant against Hamas’s military chief, Mohammed Deif, is a sign that victims are being heard, a representative for families of the victims of the October 7 Hamas attacks said.
AFP carries a quote from Yael Vias Gvirsman, who represents families of 300 Israeli victims of the Hamas attacks:
This arrest warrant against Mr Deif is massively significant. It means these victims’ voices are being heard.
ICC arrest warrants binding for all EU states, says Borrell
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has said the arrest warrants of the international criminal court (ICC) for Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, and Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif are binding for all EU member states.
In a statement posted to X, Borrell said he took note of the ICC’s decision, adding that they are “binding on all States party to the Rome Statute, which includes all EU Member States.”
US ‘fundamentally rejects’ ICC decision, says White House
The US “fundamentally rejects” a decision by the international criminal court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the country’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant, the White House said.
A statement from a US national security council spokesperson reads:
We remain deeply concerned by the Prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision. The United States has been clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter.
The US – which is not an ICC member – has previously welcomed ICC war crimes warrants against Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials for atrocities committed in Ukraine. Washington has previously denounced the court’s pursuit of Netanyahu and Gallant, a mixed stance which has exposed the Biden administration to accusations of double standards from many UN members, particularly from the global south.