ICC arrest warrant: Which countries can Israeli Prime Minister ...
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ex-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza has come as a legal bombshell for the embattled leader.
The ICC, while issuing the order, stated Netanyahu and Gallant bore their responsibility for the war crime of using starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts. He was also charged with "intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population."
The warrant leaves all signatories of the court, which comes to around 120, obliged to detain and hand over indicted leaders. In theory, this means that Netanyahu and Gallant could be arrested if they travel to any of the more than 120 countries that are parties to the court.
However, several governments, including Hungary, Czechia and Argentina, have said they will ignore the warrant.
So, here is a brief list of countries that Netanyahu will not be allowed to travel to, in light of the warrant.
Countries that will enforce ICC warrant
Though the ICC does not have enforcement powers, many countries have already signalled that they would arrest and hand over Netanyahu and Gallant. These include France and the Netherlands, who said they would act on the warrants if needed.
Netherland Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp has said the Netherlands will "implement the Rome Statute one hundred per cent," Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris too said the country would "absolutely" arrest Netanyahu and Gallant.
Belgium and Spain are two other European countries which will support the ICC warrant and comply with its commitments and obligations. Austria said though the ICC ruling was "utterly incomprehensible", it still would arrest Netanyahu. On the other hand, Slovenia has made it clear that it will fully comply with the ICC warrant.
Finland, Portugal and Switzerland too made it clear that they would arrest Netanyahu. Australia has backed ICC amid arrest warrants for Israeli premier.
Stance unclear
The stance of three major European nations, including France, Germany and Italy, is unclear. Italy said it was mulling how to "interpret" the ruling, France gave a vague statement that the ICC warrant was "not a judgment but the formalisation of an accusation".
Interestingly, one of Israel's strongest ally UK has said that it would comply with its legal obligations, but said it was "not going to get into hypotheticals" when asked if Netanyahu would be arrested if he came to the UK.
Countries that won't arrest Netanyahu
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that it wouldn't arrest Netanyahu and even invited him to visit his country.
Interestingly, India is one country that Netanyahu can visit as we are not a part of the signatories of the Rome Statute. The US too is not a part of the signatories and even called the ruling "outrageous" and pledged to "always stand with Israel against threats to its security."
Though Japan too is a member of the ICC, it has not yet mentioned anything about the arrest warrant.
