“We stick to the law and the law”
Germany does not rule out Netanyahu’s arrest
May 22, 2024, 4:04 p.m
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The International Criminal Court is requesting arrest warrants against both Israeli government politicians and leaders of the terrorist organization Hamas. There is great outrage in Israel. Meanwhile, government spokesman Hebestreit explains that Germany would accept a corresponding decision.
The federal government will “of course” adhere to the decision of the International Criminal Court. That’s what government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said. The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Ahmad Khan, had previously requested arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant, as well as against the head of the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Jahja Sinwar. The federal government is “fundamentally” a supporter of the International Criminal Court. “And it stays that way,” says Hebestreit. “We adhere to the law and the law.”
The chief prosecutor’s application was based on alleged crimes against humanity in the Gaza war. However, the federal government has criticized the simultaneous application for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the leadership of the radical Islamic Hamas by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
“The simultaneous application for arrest warrants against the Hamas leaders on the one hand and the two Israeli officials on the other gave rise to the incorrect impression of an equation,” explained a spokesman for the Foreign Office. However, the court will now have to assess very different facts, which the chief prosecutor has presented in detail in his application.
Israeli politicians reacted outraged to the move. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara sees no basis for this request. Israel has repeatedly made it clear that the court has no jurisdiction to conduct an investigation into the affairs of state officials, she wrote in a statement. Israel and its security forces are committed to the rules of international law, she emphasized.
Neither the USA nor Israel recognize the criminal court. However, the Palestinian territories are a party to the court. Therefore, Khan is allowed to investigate. The judges must now decide whether the arrest warrants will actually be issued. If they consider the charges to be confirmed, the main proceedings against the accused can be initiated.
Unbiased examination of the allegations
SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich is calling for an unbiased review of the allegations against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite the problematic approach of the International Criminal Court. “It is not only regrettable but inappropriate to justify the requests for arrest warrants against members of Hamas and the Israeli government in the same breath,” Mützenich told Stern magazine. “If the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court was able to collect robust and evident evidence against Israeli officials, this must now be decided without prejudice by an independent panel of judges at the Criminal Court.”
Mützenich urged restraint in the public debate and warned against damaging the court. It would be “wise to refrain from making hasty comments,” said the Social Democrat. “The overriding interest in the integrity and legitimacy of the International Criminal Court outweighs any understandable political criticism of the actions of the public prosecutor.”
“The Hamas leaders are responsible for a barbaric massacre in which men, women and children were brutally murdered, raped and kidnapped in Israel on October 7th,” he emphasized. The Israeli government has the right and duty to protect and defend its people from this.
Hamas continues to hold Israeli hostages under unspeakable conditions, attacks Israel with rockets and abuses the civilian population in Gaza as human shields. “It is clear that international humanitarian law with all its obligations applies here,” said the spokesman.