Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel urged the court to freeze the documents against him and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant pending the outcome of an appeal.
Israel has told the International Court of Justice that it will appeal against the arrest permissions to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for their actions in the Gaza war, Netanyahu’s office said, while France said it believed Israeli officials were “safe” in the legal process.
Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday that Israel had also urged the ICC to suspend the charges against him and Gallant for “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” pending an appeal.
The court said last week there were reasonable grounds to believe that the authorities were responsible for using “starvation as a means of war” in Gaza by blocking humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territory.
“The Israeli government rejects the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague and the legality of the arrest warrants,” Netanyahu’s office said.
“Israel has today notified the International Criminal Court of its intention to appeal to the court, and to delay the issuance of the arrest warrants,” it added.
This has happened after the French Ministry of European Affairs and International Affairs has said that it believes that the officials benefit from protection because Israel is not a member of the court.
France’s decision, which was made a day after the announcement of the end of hostilities between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah group controlled by the US and France, was criticized by rights groups.
Other countriesincluding Italy, also questioned the legality of the law.
French opinion
Paris has taken nearly a week to come to terms, after a court in The Hague issued arrest warrants on November 21 for Israeli officials and the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
After initially saying that they would follow the ICC rules, the French Foreign Ministry prepared a second statement on November 22, worried that Israel could block efforts to end the war in Lebanon, saying that the court’s decision only made a case.
On Wednesday, the ministry pointed out that the Rome Statute that established the ICC provides that a country may not be required to act contrary to its obligations “in relation to the protection of countries that are not members of the ICC”.
“Such immunity applies to Prime Minister Netanyahu and other relevant ministers and should be considered if the ICC requests their arrest and surrender.”
It said France wants to continue working with Netanyahu and other Israeli officials “to achieve peace and security for all in the Middle East”.
‘Very difficult’
Rights groups also said that France had moderated its response in order to maintain cooperation with Netanyahu and his government.
“Horrible nonsense from France here. No one is immune from an arrest warrant at the ICC because they are in office – not Netanyahu, not Putin, no one,” Andrew Stroehlein, European media director at Human Rights Watch wrote on X.
The rights group Amnesty International said the situation in France is “extremely difficult”.
“Instead of saying that prosecutors at the ICC may be immune, France should clearly confirm that it accepts the legal obligation under the Rome Statute to issue arrest warrants.”
The Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, said on Tuesday that Rome had many doubts about the ICC rules and that it should be clarified if the authorities are not immune from arrest.
“Netanyahu cannot go to a country where he can be arrested… The arrest of Netanyahu is impossible, as long as he becomes the prime minister,” he said.
France has taken part in efforts to end the fighting in the Middle East and, with the United States, helped broker the Israeli-Hezbollah ceasefire that came into force on Wednesday.
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