French claim of ICC immunity for Netanyahu ‘has no legal basis’

In the wake of the International Criminal Court warrants issued for the arrest of Israel’s prime minister and former defence chief, France joined a handful of countries saying that they will not uphold the decision should the accused enter its territory.

Despite vowing initially to “adhere to its international legal obligations” after the ICC warrants were issued more than a year into Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, the French Foreign Ministry said last week that Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant had immunity against arrest. However, according to former Greek foreign minister George Katrougalos, France must backtrack on its position again, as it is contradicting legal principles.

Katrougalos is also a professor of international law. He noted that the French government’s reasoning is based on the fact that Israel is not a party to the ICC’s founding document, the Rome Statute, and this gives Netanyahu and Gallant immunity.

“We have not heard anything like that from France when Russian President Putin was indicted with an arrest warrant against him by the very same International Criminal Court,” Katrougalos told Anadolu. Russia, like Israel, is not a signatory of the Rome Statute.

He emphasised that Article 27 of the statute states clearly that there is no immunity for heads of state or government who are indicted or sentenced by the ICC. “The mission of the ICC is exactly that: bringing heads of government, strong people, who have committed crimes, to justice.”

On the potential legal consequences for states that do not comply with ICC decisions, Katrougalos warned that failing to implement such decisions would violate international law.

“Anybody who has a warrant against him must be arrested when they set foot in a state that is a signatory and has ratified the Statute of Rome,” he explained. “If they do otherwise, this is going to be a new violation of international law, as is, for instance, continuing to sell arms to Israel, which makes [the seller] complicit in the crimes committed.”

Katrougalos underscored the importance of complying with ICC decisions to maintain a rules-based global order and the credibility of international institutions. “I am very worried about the attacks against the UN by Israel, including directly from Netanyahu, who called the UN the house of darkness during his speech at the UN General Assembly. Then followed the declaration of the UN chief being persona non grata in Israel. Then followed the attacks against the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.”

He insisted that the only thing that separates the world from complete anarchy in international law is the existence of the United Nations. “We must protect it at any cost.”

Regarding France, Katrougalos noted his surprise at its position, pointing to its joint work with the US to secure last week’s ceasefire after more than a year of cross-border exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah, and Israel’s attacks on and invasion of Lebanon at the end of September. “More generally, I cannot understand why France, which has always advocated the strategic autonomy of the EU from the US, withdrew from its original statement which said that it would respect international law regarding the ICC arrest warrants.”

He also addressed Greece’s response to the ICC decision, as articulated by the government spokesman earlier this week, who argued it does not help in trying to resolve the Palestine-Israel conflict.

“The international institutions are working without discriminating between who is going to be indicted. Everybody must respect international legality,” said Katrougalos. “Greece is always saying that we are a country that respects international law,” he added, noting that Athens seeks to resolve its differences with Turkiye based on international court rulings. “How now we can say another international court decision is irrelevant? This a contradiction that clearly undermines just international legality, even our national interests, precisely because it goes against our constant policy of decades.”

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