Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said his government would scrap all “non-essential contacts” with the Israeli prime minister.

Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter wrote on X: ‘’Europe must comply. Impose economic sanctions, suspend the Association Agreement with Israel and uphold these arrest warrants.”

By JNS and EJP

European governments backed the International Criminal Court in The Hague following its decision on Thursday to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and slain Hamas terror leader Mohammed Deif.

Josep Borrell, the European Union’s outgoing foreign-policy chief, claimed that the ruling was “not political” and should be respected.

“I take note of the decision of the international criminal court to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu, the former minister of defense, Mr. Gallant, and the Hamas leader, Deif,” Borrell said. “This decision is a binding decision on all states, all the state parties of the court, which include all members of the European Union,” he added.

“The Netherlands obviously respects the independence of the ICC and does not interfere in the substance of investigations conducted by the ICC,” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp stated in parliament.

“We will examine the ruling, but the position of the Cabinet is clear: We are a party to the Rome Statute, and based on the Rome Statute [which established the court]and the ICC Implementing Act, we are obliged to cooperate with the ICC, and we will also do that,” he continued.

The Hague’s top diplomat said the Dutch government would scrap all “non-essential contacts” with Netanyahu in response to the ICC ruling. Veldkamp is scheduled to visit Israel on an official trip next month.

A French Foreign Ministry spokesperson informed AFP that Paris would respond in line with the court’s founding statutes, raising the possibility that Netanyahu and Gallant could be placed under arrest in France.

Asked by reporters at a press conference if Paris would move to arrest Netanyahu, spokesman Christophe Lemoine stated: “It’s a point that is legally complex, so I’m not going to comment on it today.”

In a post on X, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter said that ‘’Europe must comply with the arrest warrants issued by the ICC for Netanyahu, Gallant and Deif.’’
‘’Europe must comply. Impose economic sanctions, suspend the Association Agreement with Israel and uphold these arrest warrants. War crimes and crimes against humanity cannot go unpunished,’’ she wrote.

A source in Spain’s foreign ministry said on Friday: “Spain respects the decision of the international criminal court and will fulfil its commitments and obligations with regard to the Rome statute and international law.”

Irish Prime Minister, Simon Harris, said that “Ireland respects the role of the international criminal court. Anyone in a position to assist it in carrying out its vital work must now do so with urgency.”
Asked whether Ireland would arrest Netanyahuif he visits the country Harris said: “Yes, absolutely. We support international courts and we apply their warrants.”

Italy’s Defense Minister, Guido Crosetto, said that while Rome considered the ICC decision to be “wrong” in putting “on the same level” the leaders of “a criminal terrorist organisation” and those of country “trying to eradicate” it, Italy would be obliged to arrest the Israeli politicians if they visited. “By joining the court, we must apply its judgments, it is part of the treaty,” Crosetto said. “Every state that joins would be obliged – the only way to not apply it would be to withdraw from the treaty.”

German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, said Berlin was examining the warrants. She said her country was “bound by” the court as a country that recognises the body and respects international law, but the question of whether or not Netanyahu and Gallant would be arrested was “theoretical” for the time being.

A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK “respects the independence of the ICC” but there was “no moral equivalence between Israel, a democracy, and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, which are terrorist organisations”. The spokesperson did not say whether Britain would execute the warrants.

The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber “issued warrants of arrest for two individuals, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr. Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest,” it said in a Thursday statement.

In a separate statement, the court ordered the detention of Deif, the supreme commander of Hamas’s “military wing,” who according to the Israel Defense Forces was killed in an airstrike in Gaza on July 13.

Regarding Deif, the court said that it had “reasonable grounds to believe that senior leaders of Hamas, comprising at least Mr. Deif, Mr. [Yahya] Sinwar, and Mr. [Ismail] Haniyeh, agreed to jointly carry out the 7 October 2023 Operation.”

Khan had requested warrants against former Hamas political leader Haniyeh and Hamas terrorist chief Sinwar, but dropped the legal proceedings after their deaths on July 31 and Oct. 16, respectively.

Roughly 1,200 civilians were murdered by Hamas and Palestinian terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023. Thousands more were wounded and 251 others were taken into the Gaza Strip.

The ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel as Jerusalem is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, which established the court. But in a legalistic sleight of hand, the court has asserted jurisdiction by accepting “Palestine” as a signatory in 2015, even though no such state is recognized under international law.

The 123 countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute are obligated to act on any arrest warrant it issues, raising the possibility that Netanyahu and Gallant could be arrested while visiting these places.