UK signals it would arrest Netanyahu

Britain would most likely honor the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he came to visit, a spokesman for 10 Downing Street has said.

The Hague-based ICC announced on Thursday it was seeking Netanyahu on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the Gaza conflict. Israel and the US have denounced the move.

“The UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law, and indeed international law,” a spokesman for Prime Minister Keir Starmer told British media on Friday.

However, he added that domestic procedures linked to ICC arrest warrants have never been used by the UK, because no one wanted by the court has ever visited the country.

Earlier in the day, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said it “wouldn’t be appropriate” for her to comment on the warrant, as the ICC is an independent institution.

“We’ve always respected the importance of international law, but in the majority of the cases that they pursue, they don’t become part of the British legal process,” she told Sky News. “What I can say is that obviously, the UK government’s position remains that we believe the focus should be on getting a ceasefire in Gaza.”

Emily Thornberry, the Labour MP who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, was more direct when she spoke to the outlet, however.

“If Netanyahu comes to Britain, our obligation under the Rome Convention would be to arrest him under the warrant from the ICC,” said Thornberry. “Not really a question of should, we are required to because we are members of the ICC.”

Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions leveled against it by ICC,” Netanyahu’s office has said. The US “fundamentally rejects” the decision and is “deeply concerned” by the “troubling process errors” that led to it, a spokesperson for the National Security Council said on Thursday.

So far, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, and Norway have announced they would comply with the ICC warrant, while France has said the warrant is legitimate but actually arresting the Israeli leader would be “legally complex.”

Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit Budapest and said the ICC warrant “will have no effect” in the EU and NATO member state.