Britain appears to be like more and more remoted after signalling backing for controversial worldwide arrest warrant for Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu over Gaza crimes
Britain looked increasingly isolated over its backing for a controversial arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu after France joined other countries in dismissing it yesterday.
Last night Foreign Secretary David Lammy gave the clearest signal yet that the Israeli PM would be arrested if he stepped foot in Britain.
He said there is an ‘obligation on me’ to ask the courts to issue the warrants should the Israeli PM or his former defence minister Yoav Gallant enter the UK.
But the French foreign ministry said Mr Netanyahu benefits from immunity because Israel is not a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued the warrants.
It said this would be ‘taken into consideration if the ICC was to ask us for their arrest and handing over’.
Last week the ICC accused Mr Netanyahu, Mr Gallant and Hamas’ military chief Mohammed Deif of crimes against humanity in connection with the 13-month war in Gaza.
The US has branded the ICC’s decision ‘outrageous’, with president Joe Biden saying that ‘whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas’.
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban invited Mr Netanyahu to visit Hungary, guaranteeing that ‘if he comes, the ICC ruling will have no effect in Hungary’.
Last week the ICC accused Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured), Mr Gallant and Hamas’ military chief Mohammed Deif of crimes against humanity
Foreign Secretary David Lammy gave the clearest signal yet that the Israeli PM would be arrested if he stepped foot in Britain
And the German government said legal questions had to be clarified regarding the ICC’s warrant.
‘I find it hard to imagine that we would make arrests on this basis,’ German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said last week.
Israel has also denounced the ICC’s decision, with Mr Netanyahu saying his country ‘rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions’.
Last night Mr Lammy was asked by MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee if he and officials would continue to meet and engage with ‘a man who is now wanted for war crimes’.
He replied: ‘There are two things that I am holding at the same time. One is our obligations under the Statute of Rome and our powerful belief both in the rule of law and humanitarian law.
‘We have to wait in the coming days, weeks for what they call a Notes Verbale to make its way to our embassy so that we get an instruction that we are to enforce these warrants, were they to arise.
‘Under our legislation, Section 2 of the International Criminal Courts legislation, there is an obligation on me to transmit to the courts, should those named seek to come into our country.
‘That doesn’t allow me any discretion, I will issue that, transmit that to the courts and then the courts will make their determination under our law, recognising that we are signatories to the Statute of Rome and that these are very, very serious issues indeed.’
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban invited Mr Netanyahu to visit Hungary, guaranteeing that ‘if he comes, the ICC ruling will have no effect in Hungary’
Pressed on whether he would he still engage with Mr Netanyahu, Mr Lammy said it would ‘hugely problematic’ if the UK could not discuss issues such as humanitarian aid with Israel.
‘I can’t see circumstances under which I would not be speaking to the elected representatives of the Israeli government.’
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman also said the Government would ‘respect the process that is set out under our domestic legislation’.
‘When it comes to the ICC judgment, as we’ve said previously, we’re not going to comment on specific cases, but we have a domestic legal process in the UK that follows the ICC Act of 2001 that includes various considerations as part of that process, including immunities,’ the spokesman said.
‘And that’s exactly why… we aren’t going to pre-empt the domestic legal process, which… has not been used in the UK before, as an ICC indictee has never travelled to the UK.’
Last night Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said it was ‘right and proper’ for Mr Netanyahu to appeal against the ICC arrest warrant against him.
She told Times Radio: ‘We respect the independence of the ICC. They are an independent court and we respect the rule of law. And it’s perfectly right and proper and within the rights of a democratically elected government in Israel to appeal that decision. I wouldn’t want to prejudice it so I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to make any further comment.’
