Tensions Rise Over ICC Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant as US Allies Mull Response

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) speaks to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (L) —who he fired on Nov. 5, 2024—in the Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel, on Oct. 28, 2024. Debbie Hill/Pool Photo via AP

Controversy is intensifying and the stakes are rising over the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) recent decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The ICC, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands, on Nov. 21 issued warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu and Gallant for alleged “crimes against humanity and war crimes,“ including starvation as a method of warfare, intentionally directing attacks against civilians, as well as ”murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”

The ICC’s move has sparked divisions, with the United States denouncing the warrants and some U.S. allies pledging to execute the warrants. The European Union’s foreign policy chief on Saturday reminded the bloc’s member states that they are obligated to enforce the warrants, while Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) warned allies on Friday that if they tried to enforce them, the United States might “crush” their economies with sanctions.

Netanyahu’s office called the allegations and the warrants “absurd and false,” while Israeli President Isaac Herzog accused the ICC of siding with “terrorism and evil over democracy” and of acting as a protective shield for “Hamas’ crimes against humanity.”

The Hamas terrorist group triggered Israel’s military actions in Gaza with its Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel that killed hundreds of Israeli civilians, including by beheading and other barbaric means.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told The Epoch Times that the United States “fundamentally rejects” the ICC’s decision to issue the warrants, adding that the ICC lacks jurisdiction in the matter and “there is no equivalence—none—between Israel and Hamas.”

Still, the ICC’s move means that its 124 member states now must decide whether to enforce the warrants.

While Israel and the United States, which are not ICC members, have both voiced their strong opposition, some U.S. allies including Canada, Belgium, and France have expressed their readiness to comply. Others, like Germany and Norway, voiced general support for the ICC and its role in international affairs but signaled possible reluctance to act on the warrants. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban notably invited Netanyahu to Hungary, assuring him he would face no risk if he did.

In what appeared to be a bid to muster a unified front on the matter, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said that the ICC’s arrest warrants are binding for all EU member states and their leaders can’t pick and choose whether to execute them.

“The states that signed the Rome convention are obliged to implement the decision of the court. It’s not optional,” Borrell said on Nov. 23 during a visit to Cyprus for a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.

Meanwhile, a number of prominent Republicans have called for the ICC to be sanctioned, including incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). Graham went further, warning of a plan for the United States to impose sanctions on countries that comply with the warrants.

“Israel’s in a fight for its very life,” Graham said on Fox News’ “Hannity” program on Nov. 22. “And we live in an upside-down world where the prime minister of Israel and the defense minister of Israel are being prosecuted by a court in Belgium.”

Graham said he’s working with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on legislation that would sanction any country that assists in the arrest of any Israeli politician.

“So to any ally, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, if you try to help the ICC, we’re going to sanction you,” he said.