Netanyahu arrest threat ‘won’t harm UK relations with Israel’
Source: inews.co.uk
Israel is seeking clarity from the UK Government over whether Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he enters Britain, i understands.
Downing Street indicated on Friday that it could comply with the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, saying the UK would follow international law.
But Home Secretary Yvette Cooper declined to say whether he would be detained, saying it was “not a matter for me”.
Israeli officials said it was hoped there would be clarity over the matter in the coming days.
However i understands that any diplomatic fallout over the issue will be limited because Israel wants the UK to play a major role in overseeing a ceasefire in Lebanon. Talks on ending that conflict have been ongoing and could be concluded within days.
Netanyahu has visited the UK eight times as prime minister, most recently in March 2023, and Middle East analysts said it was unlikely he would try to test Britain’s willingness to enforce the ICC warrant.
The decision by the ICC on Thursday to issue warrants for Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant over their actions in the war in Gaza, as well as a leading member of Hamas, provoked outcry from Israel and President Joe Biden, who described it as “outrageous”.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Government has offered a more muted response, saying that while there is no moral equivalence between Israel’s government and Hamas, it respected the ICC as an institution.
Asked whether the Government would comply with the law, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and indeed international law.”
Middle East analysts said the UK response was likely to raise concerns in Tel Aviv but that it would not come as a surprise, given Starmer’s Government dropped British opposition to the ICC’s plans to pursue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu.
But crucially the issue is not likely to further endanger UK-Israel relations while attempts to reach a new peacekeeping arrangement in Lebanon are reaching their conclusion.
Richard Pater, Israel director of the Middle East think tank BICOM, said: “It seems like No10 are trying to dance between the raindrops a little bit.
“They want to respect the court but didn’t want to give full-throated endorsement that they will want to arrest him.
“I cannot see Netanyahu even trying to test it. The chances of him trying are negligible.
“Israel will be fairly disappointed with the UK response but they will not be altogether surprised.
Netanyahu trips abroad
During his second, third, fourth and fifth terms as prime minister, from 2009 to 2021, Benjamin Netanyahu made dozens of official visits to countries that are ICC members
He visited France on at least eleven occasions for intergovernmental discussions, working visits and memorials
He took nine trips to Germany, three to Greece and Switzerland, and four to Italy on both working and state visits
He visited the UK on eight occasions for working and state visits and to take part in geopolitical discussions
He travelled to Canada and the Czech Republic twice, both members of the ICC
He also paid visits to multiple other ICC signatories including Poland, Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay, Jordan, the Netherlands, Uganda, Kenya, Singapore, Australia and Japan over the period
Most recently, since winning a sixth term in 2022, Netanyahu has gone on state visits to Germany, Italy, France, the UK and Cyprus
Other visits – to Russia, Hungary, India, the US, Cyprus, China, Saudi Arabia and the like – will not be impacted as the countries are not ICC signatories
Most of Netanyahu’s visits have been to the US – at least 17 to date
Jessica Rawnsley
“But in the bigger scheme of things they have bigger fish to fry. I don’t expect Israel to open up a new front with the Brits on this, particularly because what is happening in parallel – there are big domestic moves on a Lebanon ceasefire.
“Israel is pushing hard for the UK to have an important role in administering the ceasefire.”
The peace talks have centred on a proposal by Biden’s envoy Amos Hochstein under which Israeli and Hezbollah forces would withdraw from southern Lebanon and new international oversight mechanisms put in place to keep the ceasefire.
Israel wants the UK to play a role in that reframed mechanism, despite months of tensions between the two countries due to Starmer’s Government imposing a partial weapons ban on arms sales to Israel and dropping the opposition to the ICC warrant.
An Israeli source said Foreign Secretary David Lammy would not be prevented from travelling to Israel due to the UK’s response to the ICC warrant.
“On both Hezbollah and Iran, Israel sees the UK as very much in the same camp,” they said.
“The Brits get it when it comes to Hezbollah. They can read the map the same as Israel when it comes to Hezbollah.”
However, the source said the ICC warrant would be difficult for Netanyahu’s ability to travel into Europe because of question marks over how different governments would enforce the court’s decision.
Netanyahu and his wife Sara have travelled extensively during his five terms as prime minister, including to London, Paris, Berlin and Rome in early 2023.
Asked if Netanyahu would be arrested if he came to Britain, Cooper said: “That is not a matter for me as the home secretary.”
She told Times Radio: “International criminal court investigations rarely become a matter for the British legal or law enforcement processes or for the British government.
“If they ever do, there are proper processes that need to be followed and it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment in advance on any of those as home secretary.”
A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “The 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 or Lebanese Hezbollah, which are terrorist organisations.
“We remain focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the devastating violence in Gaza.
“With regards to the ICC, we of course respect the independence of the International Criminal Court which is the primary institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern.
“The vast majority of ICC cases do not become a matter for the UK legal processes, enforcement processes or the UK Government, but in the event they do there is a clear domestic legal process that would need to be followed, and so it would not be right to get in to hypotheticals in relation to individual cases.
“The Prime Minister will continue to speak to the Prime Minister of Israel, and indeed other allies, in order to conduct the essential business of reaching a ceasefire in the Middle East.
“We would update on engagement in the usual way, but it is obviously important that we engage with Israel at all levels to find a diplomatic solution to this war.”
The original article: belongs to inews.co.uk .
