France said it recognized that legally Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli government ministers were not subject to the International Criminal Court's ruling and therefore granted them “exemption” from the issued arrest warrants.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) last week issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Job Gallant on suspicion of war crimes in Gaza. The decision to issue the warrant contradicts legal advice received by the court that it does not actually have jurisdiction to issue a warrant, and is subject to how Western countries interpret the law, as well as democratically elected government leaders. sparked awkward reactions about whether to arrest him. allies.
French President Emmanuel Macron's government has increasingly clashed with Israel in recent months and previously said it would respect the court's ruling. A statement immediately after the arrest warrant was issued last week seemed deliberately vague, saying only that it was “loyal to our long-standing commitment to supporting international justice and reaffirming our commitment to the independent working of the court.” .
However, France has now shifted to a new position, issuing a diplomatic communication on Thursday saying that France respects not only the International Criminal Court, of which it is a member state, but also its international obligations towards third countries that are not member states. , like Israel.
The French government asserted that “States cannot be required to act inconsistently with their obligations under international law with respect to the immunity of non-ICC member states.'' Such immunity applies to Prime Minister Netanyahu and other relevant ministers and must be taken into account if the ICC requests their arrest and extradition. ”
The communication praised the historic friendship between the two countries and their bond as “two democracies committed to the rule of law.”
The move has been strongly criticized by France's political left, with Israel and Netanyahu often considered war criminals. French Green Party leader Tondelier called the statement “disgraceful” and accused the government of siding with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over “international justice.”
Tonderia also argued that following the logic of the decision, France would also refuse to arrest President Vladimir Putin if given the opportunity, given that Russia has also not signed the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court. . She called France's position “a historical error and a very serious one.” We are wiping out international justice and the multilateral system that we have painstakingly built over decades. But, very simply, what kind of international credibility do we have left behind is also important. That's tragic. ”
France's interpretation of the law is very similar to that offered by the UK government until the June general election, which saw a change in leadership from Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party to Keir Starmer's Labor Party. He remains clearly unsympathetic towards Israel.
Britain had submitted legal briefs to the ICC noting that Israel was not a member of the ICC and that, under the 1993 Oslo Accords, the court had no jurisdiction over Israeli military matters. Although the ICC determined in 2021 that it did indeed have this power, the UK's submission was challenged from this point on, and the government opposed issuing an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Netanyahu in general.
However, this position was reversed by the New Labor government, which withdrew the brief in July. Since the warrant was issued, the new British government has been evasive about whether it will seek to arrest the Israeli prime minister, appearing to avoid awkward questions it does not want to answer.
However, other countries were less cautious on both sides of the issue. Hungary's Viktor Orbán, a long-time ally of Israel and Netanyahu, was quick to insist that his friend would always be welcome in Budapest, while Canada's Justin Trudeau bowed to the ICC and said, “We are an international “We will uphold the law and comply with all regulations.” and international court decisions. This is who we are as Canadians. ”
