Germany warned Wednesday it will arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he enters the country following allegations of war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), a spokesperson has confirmed.
Asked by reporters in Berlin if Germany would execute any ICC arrest warrants if issued against Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Steffen Hebestreit, a spokesman for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said, “Of course. Yes, we abide by the law,” Politico reported.
If ICC judges grant the requested warrants, 124 countries across the world – including every member of the European Union – will be obliged to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant on sight. It is the first time in the court’s history that a sitting Western-backed leader has been targeted by the international court in this manner.
Germany previously wavered on its commitment to arresting Netanyahu, as Breitbart News reported.
Germany Urges Caution While France Throws Support Behind ICC Arrest Warrants For Israel Leadershttps://t.co/DrBnnxqQ6c
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 21, 2024
ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber justices are considering an application by British prosecutor Karim Khan to charge the two Israeli officials with “war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Netanyahu labelled the allegations a “distortion of reality” and accused the prosecutor of “callously pouring gasoline on the fires of antisemitism that are raging across the world.”
Germany’s decision comes after Israel’s Ambassador to Berlin, Ron Prosor, made a direct plea to the German government to reject the ICC’s proposed arrest warrant.
A demonstrator holds a sign reading “Hitler of modern times stop this monster Satanyahu!” against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Hamburg, Germany. (Markus Scholz/picture alliance via Getty Images)
A demonstrator stands with a sign showing the faces of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Nazi Germany’s leader Adolf Hitler during a rally in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza in Algiers on October 19, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)
The Palestinian Authority has already declared its acceptance of the ICC’s jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed by the Jewish state while other countries reject them outright.
However, Jerusalem does not recognize the tribunal’s jurisdiction over Israel Defense Forces actions in the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria, JNS reports.
‘Deeply Unhelpful’: UK Rejects International Court Arrest Warrant for Netanyahuhttps://t.co/1LKWInvYOQ
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 21, 2024
The International Criminal Court was formed in response to Nazi Germany’s extermination of six million Jews.
Germany is a generous donor to the ICC.
The possibility a German government would arrest and deport an Israeli Prime Minister and defense minister if they stepped foot on German soil in light of the country’s Hitler movement history has triggered shocking reports in the German media and on social media, the Jerusalem Post notes.
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