The Italian Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, declared this Thursday, November 21, that Italy would be obliged to arrest the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in the event of a visit to the country, following the arrest warrant issued by the ICC.
The minister told Italian television that the court was “wrong” but said that if Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, “went to Italy, we would be obliged to arrest them under international law.”
The government is not on the same page
For his part, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, was more cautious.
“We support the ICC, although we remember that the court must have a legal and not a political role. We will evaluate with our allies how to react and interpret this decision,” he reacted.
This Thursday an arrest warrant was issued for the Israeli Prime Minister, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the mastermind of the October 7 attacks, Mohammed Deif. The IDF claims that this Hamas executive was assassinated in July, but the Court found it “unable to determine whether Mr. Deif was murdered or is still alive.”
Italy is one of more than 120 countries that have ratified the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court. “States parties to the Rome Statute have the obligation to cooperate fully with the ICC and to provide in their national legislation for procedures allowing the execution of all requests for cooperation,” the judicial body writes on its website.
Other European countries reacted after the arrest warrant issued by the ICC. The head of Hungarian diplomacy described this decision as “a shame”, while Spain stated that it “respects the decision of the International Criminal Court and will comply with its commitments and obligations under the Rome Statute and international law.”
Source: BFM TV
