France Might Buck ICC on Netanyahu Arrest

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant are wanted men under an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court last week —but France could still be a safe place for them to visit. The French Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Netanyahu is covered by immunity rules because Israel is not an ICC member, Le Monde reports. "Such immunities apply to Prime Minister Netanyahu and other relevant ministers and will need to be taken into consideration should the ICC request their arrest and surrender," the ministry said. Officials said the immunities apply to leaders including Vladimir Putin. Russia, like the US and China, is not a party to the ICC.

The position could cause a clash between France and the ICC, the Wall Street Journal reports. After Mongolia failed to arrest Putin when the Russian president visited the country in September, the court said members are "duty-bound to arrest and surrender individuals subject to ICC warrants, regardless of official position or nationality." Amnesty International called the French stance "deeply problematic."

Sources tell the Journal that the ICC arrest warrants complicated the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire talks brokered by the US and France. Netanyahu called French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the issue, though Macron didn't take a firm position on arresting Netanyahu at the time, the sources say. In its statement Wednesday, the foreign ministry said: "In accordance with the long-standing friendship between France and Israel, two democracies committed to the rule of law and to respect for a professional and independent justice system, France intends to continue working in close cooperation with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the other Israeli authorities to achieve peace and security for all in the Middle East." (More Benjamin Netanyahu stories.)