Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will comply with International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant.
Trudeau was asked at a Nov. 21 press conference if he would step in to prevent Netanyahu’s arrest if he came to Canada, since the country’s law enforcement would be obligated to take the Israeli leader into custody under international law.
“We are one of the founding members of the International Criminal Court, International Court of Justice,” Trudeau said. “We stand up for international law, and we will abide by all the regulations and rulings of the international courts. This is just who we are as Canadians.”
Trudeau’s comments came the same day the Netherlands-based court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri.
Netanyahu has denounced the ruling as “anti-Semitic” and said Israel rejected the “absurd and false actions levelled against it.” The Israeli Defence Force has been waging war in Gaza since Hamas’ surprise October 2023 terrorist attack that left more than 1,200 Israelis dead and around 250 more taken hostage.
Trudeau told reporters that while he wanted to see Hamas lay down its arms and release all of its Israeli hostages, he also wanted Israel to allow aid to flow into the Gaza Strip.
“We need to get back on track towards a two-state solution, with a peaceful Israel living alongside a peaceful Palestinian state,” he added.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, who was also asked about the ICC ruling, said Canada has “always believed” in the importance of international law, noting it was a founding member of the ICC in 1998.
“International law needs to apply to all parties at all times and at the same time,” she told reporters in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 21. “In order to do so, we need accountability in our world, and so based on that, Canada will abide by its obligation under the ICC treaty.”
When asked again if Canada would arrest Netanyahu, she responded she would not “give a hypothetical answer based on a hypothetical question,” but reiterated that Canada believes in “international accountability” under the ICC.
The United States said it rejected the ICC’s decision. The White House said the U.S. remains “deeply concerned by the Prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision,” and is discussing next steps with its allies.
While Canada is a state party to the ICC, both the U.S. and Israel initially signed on as a signatory but later withdrew their signatures.
