ICC issues arrest warrant for Netanyahu for alleged crimes against humanity.

 

WANTED: Benjamin Netanyahu

Last week, The International Criminal Court (ICC), issued arrest warrants for the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the former Israeli defence secretary, Yoav Gallant, and the Hamas leader, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to Gaza and the attack on Israeli by Hamas.  

 As one might expect, Netanyahu's office said that the arrest warrants issued by the ICC against him and Gallant, were "anti-Semitic" and said Israel: "rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions." Israel is not a member of the ICC and denies committing war crimes in Gaza and also rejects the court's jurisdiction. 

Although tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including women and children, since the Hamas attack on 7 October, the U.S. President Joe Biden, described the warrants against the Israeli leaders as "outrageous." Like Israel, the U.S. is not a member of the ICC, but it does support the warrant the ICC issued for the arrest of Vladimir Putin for deporting thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia. 

When Vladimir Putin visited Mongolia earlier this year, he wasn't arrested under the ICC warrant because it wasn't enforced by Mongolia who are a member of the ICC. 

The Board of Deputies of British Jews, said the ICC's decision to issue arrest warrants for the Israeli leaders, sent a "terrible message." 

Ireland, France and Italy, have said they would arrest Netanyahu if he came to their countries. When the Irish Taoiseach, Simon Harris, was asked if police would arrest the Israeli Prime Minister in Ireland, he said: "Yes, absolutely. We support international courts and we apply their warrants." 

The UK government has been reluctant to confirm whether Netanyahu would be arrested if he set foot on British soil. The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said it "wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment" on the processes involved as the ICC is independent, although the UK is a member of the ICC. A spokesman for Sir Keir Starmer said that the government would "fulfil its legal obligations" in relation to the arrest warrants. Emily Thornberry, who chairs Labour's foreign affairs committee in parliament, told Sky News, "If Netanyahu comes to Britain, our obligation under the Rome Convention would be to arrest him under the warrant from the ICC...' 

Although Hungry as an E.U. member state would be required to enforce the arrest warrants, the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, said that he would invite Netanyahu to visit Hungry and would guarantee that the arrest warrant would "not be observed." Some people believe that Netanyahu could avoid arrest by claiming diplomatic immunity. 

Israel claims that the Hamas leader Al Masri was killed earlier this year, but the ICC said it would still be issuing the arrest warrant because his death had not been confirmed.