‘Shocking nonsense’: France slammed after suggestion Netanyahu has ICC immunity
France has claimed the Israeli prime minister has immunity to actions by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is seeking his arrest for alleged war crimes in Gaza, arguing that Israel has not signed up to the court’s statutes.
The French government has taken almost a week to come up with a clear position after the court in The Hague issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Netanyahu, his former defence chief Yoav Gallant and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif.
After initially saying it would adhere to the ICC statutes, France’s Foreign Ministry fine-tuned that stance in a second statement on Friday amid concerns that Israel could scupper a ceasefire in Lebanon. It said then that the court’s decision merely formalised an accusation.
And today, the ministry said the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, states a country cannot be required to act in a manner incompatible with its obligations “with respect to the immunities of States not party to the ICC”.
“Such immunities apply to Prime Minister Netanyahu and other relevant ministers and will have to be taken into consideration should the ICC request their arrest and surrender,” it said.
Rights groups suggested France had tempered its response to maintain a working relationship with Netanyahu and his government.
“Some shocking nonsense from France here. No one gets immunity from an ICC arrest warrant because they’re in office – not Netanyahu, not [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, no one,” Andrew Stroehlein, European media director at Human Rights Watch, said on X.
He pointed to Article 27 of the Rome Statute on the “irrelevance of official capacity”.
Israeli cabinet approves proposal to cut links to Haaretz
As well as foreign media outlets in Israel, those inside the country that are critical of Prime Minister Netanyahu are now also facing a crackdown.
Netanyahu’s cabinet has approved a proposal to cut all government links with Haaretz – a move that could cripple the 105-year-old newspaper financially and force it to shut down.
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