The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed that France stands “in support of international justice”, without stating whether the French authorities would be led to arrest the Israeli Prime Minister in the event of a visit to France.
France “takes note” of the arrest warrants issued Thursday by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the head of the armed wing of Hamas Mohammed Deif, declared this Friday, November 22, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Faithful to its long-standing commitment to supporting international justice”, Paris “recalls its attachment to the independent work of the Court”, it underlines in a press release, without explicitly specifying whether France, which is one of the 124 Member States of the ICC, would arrest them if these people went to its territory.
Outrage of certain countries
These arrest warrants for war crimes and crimes against humanity aroused indignation in Israel and provoked a wave of contrasting reactions in Europe. American President Joe Biden denounced a “scandalous” decision.
Regarding the situation in Gaza, France “has always and since the start of the conflict demanded strict respect for international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians” and “condemned its violations”, recalls the spokesperson for French diplomacy , Christophe Lemoine.
Paris also “condemned and continues to condemn in the strongest terms the anti-Semitic terrorist attacks committed on October 7 by Hamas and other terrorist groups” and “recalls that there is no possible equivalence between Hamas, a terrorist group, and Israel, a democratic state,” he argues.
The political class divided
“There is clearly the desire to humiliate Israel through this decision,” regretted the vice-president of the National Rally Sébastien Chenu on franceinfo Friday calling on France – before the publication of the Quai d’Orsay press release – to “testify to this friendly country of his support with a little more energy”.
Is Benjamin Netanyahu at risk of arrest after the issuance of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court?
“Everything that hinders a political solution is not necessarily welcome at the moment,” added Macronist deputy Sylvain Maillard on the same channel, while for the right, Philippe Juvin questioned the legitimacy of the ICC. “Who does not see the very worrying drift of international institutions which make the fight against Israel a common point of all these people who, deep down, do not exercise democracy in their own country?”, questioned the MP on Sud radio.
On the left, on the contrary, we welcomed this arrest warrant. “The ICC's decision against Netanyahu and Gallant is the indisputable consequence of their strategy of annihilation, still at work,” said Greens leader Marine Tondelier on X. For Olivier Faure, the boss of the PS, “this decision must lead Western countries to immediately interrupt all deliveries of weapons used in Gaza.”
“Netanyahu is a war criminal who is now actively wanted,” welcomed the leader of the rebellious deputies Mathilde Panot on the same social network, while LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard judged that France must “come out of its denial and act finally for the end of the genocide in Gaza”.
