The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant. They are wanted for war crimes in Gaza.
ICC decisions are binding on all 124 party states (which ratified the Rome Statute treaty). Thirty-three of these are in Africa and the majority – 42 – in Europe. In theory, this means that if either suspect steps foot in any of these countries, he will be arrested and handed over to the court.
Israel is not a signatory to the treaty, and while the US signed the Rome Statute in 2000, it did not ratify it, leaving it as a non-party state. This has led to what former US Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues David Scheffer terms the ‘immunity interpretation.’ This argues that the ICC has no jurisdiction over US nationals, even if they commit crimes in a state party to the Rome Statute.
Politicians in the US – including Senate Majority leader-elect John Thune – have previously warned that they will ask the Senate to vote on sanctioning the ICC – and those that assist – if it issues arrest warrants for Israel’s leadership. A bill to that effect has already passed the House.
Ironically, the US and its allies were vocal, for example, in pressuring South Africa to enforce an ICC arrest warrant for war crimes on Russian President Vladimir Putin during the 2023 BRICS summit (which he ended up attending only virtually).
It’s unclear if Netanyahu or Gallant will risk travelling to one of the 124 countries obliged to arrest them, and which countries would act.
Sources:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/full-list-124-countries-must-arrest-netanyahu-icc