Benjamin Netanyahu benefits from “immunity”, estimates the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs

On Tuesday, Michel Barnier affirmed that France would “rigorously apply its obligations” if the Israeli Prime Minister visited France, without giving further details.

Will Benjamin Netanyahu be arrested if he enters French territory? The government continues to maintain vagueness, after the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the head of the Israeli government. If Michel Barnier had indeed stated, the day before, that France would apply “rigorously the obligations incumbent on him”the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs specified, Wednesday November 27, that the Israeli Prime Minister benefits from a “immunity” which should be “take into consideration”.

“France will respect its international obligations on the understanding that the Rome Statute requires full cooperation with the International Criminal Court”says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release.

But the Quai d'Orsay specifies that this status “also provides that a State may not be required to act in a manner inconsistent with its obligations under international law with respect to the immunities of States not parties to the ICC”like Israel. Gold, “Such immunities apply to Prime Minister Netanyahu and other relevant ministers, and will need to be taken into consideration should the ICC request their arrest and surrender.”continues the ministry.

If Prime Minister Michel Barnier assured Tuesday that France would apply its “obligations” towards the ICC, he did not, however, explicitly explain whether or not Paris would arrest the Israeli leader if he visited French territory.

The International Criminal Court, which Israel has not joined and from which the United States has withdrawn, issued arrest warrants on Thursday against Benjamin Netanyahu, his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the head of the armed wing of Palestinian Hamas, Mohammed Deif, for “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity”.