NICOSIA: European Union governments cannot pick and choose whether to execute arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against two Israeli leaders and a Hamas commander, the EU’s foreign policy chief said on Saturday.

The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al Masri, for alleged crimes against humanity. All EU member states are signatories to the ICC’s founding treaty, called the Rome Statute.

Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him he would face no risks if he did so.

“The states that signed the Rome convention are obliged to implement the decision of the court. It’s not optional,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, said during a visit to Cyprus for a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.

Erdogan hails ‘courageous’ warrants for Israeli leaders

Those same obligations were also binding on countries aspiring to join the EU, he said. “It would be very funny that the newcomers have an obligation that current members don’t fulfill,” he said.

The United States rejected the ICC’s decision and Israel said the ICC move was antisemitic. “Every time someone disagrees with the policy of one Israeli government — (they are) being accused of antisemitism,” said Borrell, whose term as EU foreign policy chief ends this month.

“I have the right to criticise the decisions of the Israeli government, be it Mr Netanyahu or someone else, without being accused of antisemitism. This is not acceptable. That’s enough.”

Israel’s 13-month campaign in Gaza has killed about 44,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly all the enclave’s population while creating a humanitarian crisis, Gaza officials say.

The ICC issued the warrants against the Israeli leaders and Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif on Thursday on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza conflict.

In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a “widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza”. The warrant for Masri lists charges of mass killings during the Oct 7, 2023, raid. Israel says it has killed Masri.

‘Lessons on law, justice and human rights’

Moreover, Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday praised the “courageous decision” of the International Criminal Court to seek the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and for­mer defence minister Yoav Gallant.

“We support the arrest warrant. We consider it important that this courageous decision be carried out by all country members of the accord to renew the trust of humanity in the international system,” Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul. “It is imperative that western countries — who for years have given the world lessons on law, justice and human rights — keep their promises at this stage,” added Erdogan, whose country is not a state party in the ICC accord.

Erdogan has become a fierce critic of Israel since the start of its military offensive on Gaza in Oct 2023. He has vowed several times to make sure that Israel’s prime minister, who has angrily condemned the ICC warrants, is “brought to account” over the Israeli military campaign in the Palestinian territory.

Turkiye and 52 other countries this month sent a letter to the United Nations demanding an end to arms sales and deliveries to Israel.—

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2024