Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government will not pursue an objection to the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing an arrest warrant for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Prosecutor Karim Khan KC applied for arrest warrants to be issued for Israel’s prime minister and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar over alleged war crimes earlier this year.
But under Rishi Sunak’s Tory government, the UK had considered challenging the right of the ICC to issue arrest warrants for Mr Netanyahu and Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
A Number 10 spokesperson said the government would not be pursuing the previous government’s objection because it was matter for the court to decide on.
They said the government’s decision as neither an objection or endorsement of the ICC’s case against Mr Netanyahu.
“The government believes strongly in the rule of law and separation of powers,” they said, adding that the court should make independent decisions.
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Mr Khan said he was issuing the arrest warrants because he believed “we must collectively demonstrate that international humanitarian law, the foundational baseline for human conduct during conflict, applies to all individuals and applies equally across the situations addressed by my office and the court”.
“This is how we will prove, tangibly, that the lives of all human beings have equal value,” he added.
The prosecutor said he also had reasonable grounds to believe the leaders of Hamas “bear criminal responsibility” for “war crimes and crimes against humanity”.
He outlined a list of alleged crimes, including murder, taking hostages and rape and other acts of sexual violence.
Shortly after the arrest warrants were issued, Mr Netanyahu said he rejected “with disgust” at the Hague prosecutor’s “comparison between democratic Israel and the mass murderers of Hamas”.
The previous government under Mr Sunak said the ICC’s action was “not helpful in relation to reaching a pause in the fighting, getting hostages out or getting humanitarian aid in”.
But it had not entered a formal challenge to the ICC before the general election was called, leaving a question mark over the status of the UK’s case.
The ICC initially gave the government until 12 July to file its legal challenge, which was then extended to July 26 – which the new government has chosen not to act on.
The court’s decision – which US president Joe Biden has denounced as “outrageous” – creates a dilemma for the new government.
As signatories to the ICC, the UK would be expected to follow its orders to execute the arrest warrant if Mr Netanyahu were to visit the UK.
However, there have been instances of members states applying for an exemption to carrying out an arrest warrant.
The sanction for a state failing to carry out an arrest warrant is referral back to the ICC’s assembly of member states and ultimately a referral to the UN Security Council.. The court itself has no means to enforce an arrest.
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The Board of Deputies of British Jews branded the development a “regretful and regressive step” and said it put the UK “at odds” with international allies including the US and Germany, which have challenged the court’s treatment of Israel.
“This decision comes at a time where many in the Jewish community are still assessing how this government will in practice stand by its words, delivered when in opposition, to support Israel’s right to self-defence,” they said.
“It comes a week after the return of UK funding to UNWRA, despite significant outstanding concerns.
“It also comes amidst increased reports that the government will soon be making an announcement regarding the sale of arms to Israel – a country which only 300 days ago suffered the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
They added: “We are concerned that the cumulative effect of these announcements, in quick succession, signal a significant shift in policy, away from Israel being a key UK ally. This would not only be a strategic error but a moral one. The government should urgently reconsider any such approach.”
