The International Criminal Court issued this Thursday an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “crimes against humanity and war crimes”.
Will Benjamin Netanyahu appear before the International Criminal Court (ICC)? An arrest warrant was issued this Thursday, November 21, against the Israeli Prime Minister for “crimes against humanity and war crimes committed at least from October 8, 2023.” Yoav Gallant, Minister of Defense of the Jewish state until his dismissal at the beginning of November, is also the subject of an arrest warrant.
The Israeli leader denounced the ICC's decision comparing the arrest warrants issued to a new “Dreyfus trial” and calling the court “anti-Semitic.”
Putin, targeted by an arrest warrant, was not arrested
The issuance of this arrest warrant limits Benjamin Netanyahu's travel abroad, and in particular in the 125 signatory states of the Rome Statute which established this body. These states are theoretically required to arrest him if he enters their territory.
“States parties to the Rome Statute have an obligation to cooperate fully with the ICC and to provide in their national legislation for procedures allowing the execution of all requests for cooperation,” writes the Court on its website.
But this does not mean that the Israeli leader will appear before this Court. First obstacle: Israel has not ratified the Rome Statute, the country is therefore not required to cooperate with the Court. The United States, a vital ally for the Jewish state, has also not ratified the Rome Statute.
Some States, signatories to the Treaty of Rome, have in the past been able to disregard their obligations. At the beginning of September, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Mongolia, a signatory country to the Treaty of Rome, without being arrested. However, the Russian leader is also the subject of an arrest warrant. Vladimir Putin is accused of being “responsible for the war crime of illegal deportation of population (children) and illegal transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.” But in addition to this trip, the Russian president has severely restricted his travel abroad since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In 2015, South Africa refused to arrest the former Sudanese president on its soil Omar el-Bechirthen prosecuted for genocide. “The Court does not have its own execution mechanism and it is not uncommon for States to not respond to requests for the execution of arrest warrants,” admits the ICC.
“Israel born from a UN decision”: Why are Macron and Netanyahu in conflict?
“Only states have the power to execute arrest warrants”
As the judicial body itself underlines, which recognizes “difficulties”, “only States have the power to execute arrest warrants. The support of States, whether diplomatic or operational, is essential” .
For his part, the prosecutor of the international body Karim Khan called this Thursday on the signatories of the Rome Statute to “respect their commitments (…) and by complying with these judicial orders”. Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said Thursday evening that Italy would be forced to arrest the Israeli leader if he visited the country.
The body based in The Hague, Netherlands, also issued an arrest warrant for Mohammed Deif, the architect of the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023. The IDF claims that this Hamas executive was killed in July but the Court considered “not to be able to determine whether Mr. Deif was killed or is still alive”.
