The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for three key figures in the epicenter of global political attention: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Galant and Hamas leader Mohammed Deif. They are accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. This news became sensational, causing a wave of reactions from governments, international organizations and world media.
The ISS decision quickly became a divisive point in the international community. Israel and the US, which do not recognize the court’s jurisdiction, strongly condemned the move, calling it politically motivated. The European press, on the other hand, shows a wide range of assessments — from support for the court’s actions to criticism of its possible consequences. Other regions of the world are also actively responding, expressing both support and restraint.
The Times – Great Britain. According to The Times of London, this is a counterproductive step:
“Israelis are still traumatized by the events of October 7, and many will instinctively want to go on the defensive and protect their prime minister from an institution they see as distant, hostile – and bent only on embarrassing their country, which has found itself under There is no doubt that the innocent residents of Gaza, including thousands of children, have had to go through enormous suffering
However, the forum in which Israeli policy and the actions of those who define it should be discussed and investigated is the Israeli judiciary. And the ostentatious maneuver of the ISS, which decided to bring down its legal mechanisms on Israel, will not bring clarity, but will only add fuel to the fire.”
Le Soir – Belgium. Brussels-based Le Soir sees this as a step in the right direction:
“It can be assumed that the Palestinians, who have become victims of Israel’s egregious actions in the Gaza Strip, reacted with pleasure, but also with skepticism, to the announcement of the arrest warrant.
… They guess that nothing has happened yet and that the performance, during which the Israeli prime minister would appear before the judges in The Hague, most likely will never happen. … Nevertheless, these arrest warrants, issued with such delay due to intense pressure on the ICC, are the long-awaited beginning of international justice. It is something that goes (just) beyond symbolic gestures. This is a premiere, because never before have the leaders of countries considered to be part of the “West” suffered such a disgrace.”
De Telegraaf – The Netherlands. Amsterdam’s De Telegraaf is outraged to the limit:
“The International Criminal Court seems to be ignoring the fact that Israel is fighting a barbaric terrorist group that has vowed to kill, rape and take hostages of Israeli citizens until Israel is wiped out.
… In exercising its legitimate right to self-defense, Israel is dealing with an enemy that openly uses people as human shields. …All this is obviously of no interest to the Criminal Court. The fact that the Hamas gang of killers reacted triumphantly to the announcement of the arrest warrants speaks for itself.”
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – Germany. By putting Israel and Hamas on the board, the International Criminal Court is undermining its authority, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is outraged:
“Not a single public word about a genocidal terrorist attack against which Israel is defending itself. With one stroke and a generous hand, the court is issuing arrest warrants for mass murderers and members of the government of a democratic state governed by the rule of law. The criminal court should not be surprised if previously loyal Western states refuse to take it seriously, and the enemies of justice and freedom, on the contrary, will greet him with shouts full of triumph.
This threatens a new split – because of the court, whose charter refers to the common bonds of all peoples and expresses concern that this fragile mosaic could be destroyed at any moment. That’s how it happens!”.
Politiken – Denmark. Politiken newspaper explains how Copenhagen should act against the background of this decision:
“It goes without saying that Denmark should follow the order and arrest Netanyahu if he enters the country. … Denmark fully supported Israel after the terrorist attacks by Hamas on October 7 and advocated Israel’s right to self-defense. But what to think now , when the highest legal instance of humanitarian law accuses the leaders of a country of grave crimes? Should this have consequences for our politics? The answer is yes. Before Benjamin Netanyahu capitulates or the case ends somehow differently, we must freeze support for Israel, both economically and diplomatically.”
Libération – France. Europe will hardly be able to ignore the opinion of the United States on this issue – predicts Dov Alphon, editor-in-chief of the Paris-based Libération:
The French Foreign Ministry, which likes to be cryptic, said that France has “always supported” the ICC’s actions, but that the issuance of these arrest warrants is a “complex legal issue” – and therefore the situation requires “some precautions in the legal sense”.
Of course, it should be understood quite the opposite: from a legal point of view, everything is clear, but the necessary precautionary measures are of a complex political nature. Since the US rejected the legitimacy of these arrest warrants by the ICC even before Donald Trump took office, it is difficult to imagine that Great Britain – or France – would actually arrest Netanyahu and thereby risk jeopardizing the supply of weapons to Ukraine or the NATO bloc.
