Who would arrest Netanyahu? ICC warrant for Israeli leader draws a global dividing line

The arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forced a reckoning Friday for the U.S. ally’s global status more than a year after it launched its devastating war in Gaza.

The warrants — also issued for former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif — drew a diplomatic dividing line between countries who vowed to back the International Criminal Court and those who pledged to defy it.

While he faces accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity for leading his country’s assault on the Palestinian enclave, Netanyahu is unlikely to be in handcuffs any time soon — as long as he avoids trips to Ireland and the Netherlands, who all made clear they would arrest him if he visits.

Hungary, in contrast, promised not to arrest the Israeli leader. Its strongman leader Viktor Orbán sent a letter condemning the decision and inviting Netanyahu for an official visit on which he promised to “ensure your safety and freedom.”

The Israeli leader praised Hungary, who he said had “like our friends in the U.S.,” shown “moral clarity and steadfastness on the side of justice and the truth.” He contrasted this to what he called the “shameful weakness of those who have lined up alongside the outrageous decision.”

The White House said Thursday that President Joe Biden’s administration was “deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision.”

Neither Israel nor the U.S. recognizes the jurisdiction of the ICC, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands, and has no police to enforce its warrants.

Under the Rome statute that created the ICC, its signatories are obliged to carry out arrest warrants, no matter the rank of the accused. But most governments also abide by the international legal principle that heads of state have legal immunity from other courts.

The court said in its statement that there was reason to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeting civilians in Israel’s campaign in Gaza — charges Israeli officials dismissed as false and antisemitic.

The arrest warrants were announced on the same day that the death toll in the enclave passed 44,000, according to local officials, and followed mounting international condemnation over the dire humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave. The World Health Organization has warned that northern Gaza is at imminent risk of famine, while health organizations have deemed it necessary to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of children for polio in recent months.

Israel launched its campaign following the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack in which Israeli officials said some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage, a major escalation in the decadeslong conflict.

Mohammed Deif was accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including for his role as a mastermind of Oct. 7.

Some European countries have not said whether they would arrest Netanyahu if he visited, including a number of Israeli allies.

​Britain respects the independence of the ICC, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said, but did not say whether Britain would arrest Netanyahu.

France restated its commitment to the court’s independence and said its response would align with the statutes of the court, but a spokesperson for its foreign ministry did not explicitly say how Paris would act.

The German government noted its role in drafting the ICC statutes but also its relationship with Israel, vowing to “carefully examine” the next steps.

Others, including Sweden and Norway, were also noncommittal.

Some appeared split, with both Austrian and Czech governments promising to uphold their obligations to the ICC while senior officials criticized the arrest warrants.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala called the ICC decision “unfortunate,” saying on X late on Thursday that it “undermines its authority in other cases when it equates the elected representatives of a democratic state with the leaders of an Islamist terrorist organization.” Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said the warrants being issues was absurd.

Countries across the Middle East also praised and backed the court, as did South Africa, which has accused Israel of genocide in Gaza at the International Court of Justice. Israel and the U.S. deny those charges.

Pope Francis, in comments published Sunday that were some of his most explicit criticism yet of Israel’s conduct, suggested that the global community should study whether Israel’s military campaign in Gaza constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.

Netanyahu and the other two Israelis facing the arrest warrants join a group that includes Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been subject to an ICC arrest warrant over alleged war crimes in Ukraine since last year.