Since the Hague Court issued the arrest warrant, 12 European nations have spoken out; 4 didn’t make it clear what they would do
Since the ICC (International Criminal Court) issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 7 European countries have stated that they will comply with the order if the Israeli Prime Minister sets foot on their territories. Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif also received arrest warrants.
The warrants cite war crimes in the Gaza Strip committed from October 8, 2023 to May 20, 2024. In practice, the measure has little effect as the ICC does not have the power to arrest directly and depends on the position of any of the 123 member countries of the convention. Here is the ICC statement (PDF – 349 kB, in English).
In total, 14 countries spoke out about the International Court’s order, of which 7 said they would comply with it, 1 said it would not arrest Netanyahu and another 4 gave ambiguous statements as to whether they would comply with the order or not.
Italy signaled that it would accept the ICC order, but with reservations. The Italian Defense Minister, Guido Crosetto, said on Friday (22.Nov.2024) that, as the country is a signatory to the ICC, it would comply with the order, but highlighted that the Italian government does not agree with the decision that equates the Israelis with members of Hamas.
To date, Hungary has been the only European country that has declared that it will not arrest the Israeli prime minister if he enters its territory. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Órban even said he would invite Netanyahu to visit the country, a clear challenge to the ICC’s authority.
The other countries (France, United Kingdom, Czech Republic and Germany) presented diplomatic statements that an arrest during a possible visit by Netanyahu to their territories would be evaluated.
