AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The International Criminal Court's decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel's prime minister, its former defense minister and a senior military leader of Hamas has exposed deep global divisions. It's also forced many governments, especially in Europe, to walk a tightrope between international law and domestic politics. As Willem Marx reports, leaders in several countries have been vague about how they might respond to the warrants.
WILLEM MARX, BYLINE: The response to the court's decision on Thursday to issue arrest warrants for a sitting prime minister provoked strong condemnation from several senior figures in Israel. And amongst the most strident voices was that of a man now subject to those warrants, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. At least in theory, he now faces arrest in 124 countries that have signed up to the international treaty known as the Rome Statute that governs the ICC's jurisdiction.
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PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: Israel does not, Israel will not recognize the validity of this decision. We will continue to do everything we must do to defend our citizens and defend our state. Our enemies are your enemies, and our victory will be your victory, the victory of civilization over barbarism and tyranny.
MARX: Netanyahu thanked Israel's allies, including the United States, where a White House spokesperson said the Biden administration remains deeply concerned by the ICC prosecutor's rush and process errors that led to the warrants being issued. In Hungary, President Viktor Alban, a very public admirer of President-elect Donald Trump, said his country would simply not honor the warrants, and he invited Netanyahu to visit Hungary, offering a guarantee the ICC ruling would have no effect.
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PRESIDENT VIKTOR ORBAN: (Through interpreter) It interferes in an ongoing political conflict in legal disguise but with political aims. This is wrong in itself. It completely discredits international law, and in addition, it could be oil on the fire. So there is no other choice but to defy this decision.
MARX: Meanwhile, Argentina's colorful and sometimes polarizing president Javier Milei called the warrants incomprehensible. But several other nations, including the U.K. and France, took a more nuanced stance, insisting they respected the ICC without explicitly acknowledging the real-world implications of its decision to arrest Netanyahu, who last visited both countries before the current conflict.
At the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan, Germany's foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said judicial powers are independent of politics in Germany, Europe and internationally. But she did not outright confirm whether her country would arrest those under warrant.
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ANNALENA BAERBOCK: (Through interpreter) We have already made this clear in the past. We will abide by the law and by international rules. For this reason, we are now carefully examining what this means for us in terms of implementation.
MARX: Her counterpart in the Netherlands, Caspar Veldkamp, was far more direct in comments he made to the Dutch Parliament.
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CASPAR VELDKAMP: (Through interpreter) We are obliged to cooperate with the International Criminal Court, and that is what we will do. We comply with the Rome Statute, 100%.
MARX: Across America's political divide, members of Congress called for sanctions against the ICC. But U.S. pressure on other countries to follow its example may fail, according to a British lawyer who led the war crimes prosecution of the former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, Sir Geoffrey Nice.
GEOFFREY NICE: It's happened on other occasions. It's a necessary reality for us to face. But on this occasion, I rather doubt if America's pressure threats to countries to be willing to break their obligations to the International Criminal Court would work. I just don't think the climate is around for that to be viable.
MARX: Any and all questions about these warrants remain hypothetical, though, at least until Netanyahu or his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, decide to travel outside Israel.
For NPR News, I'm Willem Marx in London. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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