UK refuses to say if Netanyahu would be arrested on British soil following ICC warrant
The UK government has refused to say whether Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, would be arrested if he stepped foot on British soil.
Legal experts and commentators have told Middle East Eye that there would be an obligation to arrest Netanyahu if he came to Britain, after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister and for former defence minister Yoav Gallant.
The UK is a member state of the ICC, but in a statement sent to Middle East Eye Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government would not clarify whether it would uphold the arrest warrants.
“We respect the independence of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which is the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern," a British government spokesperson said.
“This government has been clear that Israel has a right to defend itself, in accordance with international law. There is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democracy, and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, which are terrorist organisations.”
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The Liberal Democrats, the UK's third-largest party, called on the government to uphold the arrest warrants.
The party said on Thursday afternoon: "It is vital that the new Government complies with our obligations under international law by committing to upholding this ruling, including enforcing arrest warrants."
In July, Britain dropped its previous objection to an arrest warrant being issued, which was filed by the previous Conservative government.
The Labour government said "this is a matter for the court to decide on". Now the court has decided.
Netanyahu and Gallant are accused of a range of war crimes and crimes against humanity over atrocities committed since 7 October last year. The court has also issued a warrant for Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif.
But it is up to the ICC's 124 member states - including the UK - to decide whether they will enforce the warrants.
The UK's legal obligations
In 2001, Tony Blair's Labour government passed the International Criminal Court Act, which enforces compliance with the court. This legally obliges the government to arrest Netanyahu if he sets foot on UK soil.
There is a domestic legal process through which Britain's independent courts determine whether or not to endorse the warrant in accordance with the 2001 act.
A host of lawyers and campaigners told Middle East Eye meeting the obligation to arrest was essential.
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s Chief Executive, said: “In opposition the foreign secretary said in government his party would comply with any arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court, and we now need to see Mr Lammy and the whole UK government unequivocally backing this vitally important move by the ICC.
“The UK’s standing as a genuine supporter of the rule of law requires consistency and even-handedness - if war crimes are wrong when carried out by Russian forces in unlawfully-occupied Ukraine, then they’re equally wrong when carried out by Israeli forces in unlawfully-occupied Palestinian territory.
“In compliance with their international legal obligations, the UK authorities should be prepared to make swift arrests if Benjamin Netanyahu or Yoav Gallant step foot on British soil.”
Tayab Ali, director of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), said: "This is the most significant ruling in the history of international humanitarian law. The ICC just smashed Israel’s decades long impunity to pieces."
He told MEE: "The UK is a member of the ICC and should recognise its duty as a signatory to the Rome Statute.
"The UK now has an obligation to cease any activity that might be complicit in Israel's alleged war crimes and to ensure that the police act on the arrest warrants should Netanyahu or Gallant enter the UK."
The ICJP's legal officer, Mira Naseer, added: "Over the last year of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, UK officials from successive governments have, inexcusably, denied and downplayed Israeli war crimes. They can no longer continue to feign ignorance."
'The ICC just smashed Israel’s decades long impunity to pieces'
- Tayab Ali, International Centre of Justice for Palestinians
When previously asked if he would see Netanyahu arrested, Starmer said he would "wait and see" what the court's decision is.
"But I believe in the international rule of law and I respect the independence of both the prosecutor and the court, but they've got a decision to make at some point in the future."
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and the Labour Party's Muslim Network both called on the government to comply with the arrest warrants.
“We urge the UK government to fully support the ICC, uphold international law, stop supplying weapons that fuel these atrocities, and demand accountability,” the MCB said in a statement.
Calls for Britain to cut trade ties
Brigadier John Deverell, former director of defence diplomacy at the UK's Ministry of Defence, said he thinks the ICC "should go much more widely.
"From my own experience as a military guy, the ICC arrest warrants should extend further down the chain of command", not only to those who commissioned actions that may constitute war crimes but also their supervisors.
'It's time for Britain to demonstrate that it does stand up for international law'
- Chris Doyle, CAABU
Chris Doyle, director of the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding, agreed, saying it is "hard to imagine that the crimes are limited solely to Netanyahu and Gallant.
"The logic of this decision is that arrest warrants should be issued to others too", both within the Israeli government and military, and within Hamas.
Doyle said the UK must "immediately state clearly that it welcomes the decision to issue warrants, that it will honour the warrants and that it will back the ICC should it issue arrest warrants against any other individuals for war crimes, no matter who."
But he added that the government must do much more than that.
"Having been served notice that there is sufficient evidence for war crimes, why does the British government continue to sell arms to the state of Israel? Why does it continue to describe Israel as an ally? Why does it continue to negotiate a free trade agreement with Israel?
"Why does it continue to engage in Israel's unlawful occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip through trade with the illegal settlements? It's time for Britain to demonstrate that it does stand up for international law."
Earlier this month it emerged that the Metropolitan Police’s war crimes team had shared a “small number of referrals” with the ICC since the Hamas-led attack on Israel last October and the ensuing war on Gaza.
The team reviewed around 170 referrals and shared information with the international court “as part of the UK’s international obligations”, a police spokesperson told MEE.
Meanwhile the Ministry of Defence said it would consider sharing war crimes evidence with the ICC that the UK's Royal Air Force (RAF) spy planes may have gathered while flying over Gaza over the past year, if asked.
Since early December, the RAF has flown at least 450 flights over Gaza.
The defence ministry has said the flights are unarmed and solely focused on gathering intelligence to help secure the release of hostages, including British nationals, seized on 7 October 2023.
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