ICC faced UK withdrawal threat over Israeli arrest warrants

The International Criminal Court (ICC) faced a UK withdrawal threat as the government secretly warned it would pull out and cut its ICC funding if the court handed over arrest warrants to Israel’s leaders, Middle East Eye reported on June 9th.

The then UK foreign secretary for the former Conservative Party government, David Cameron, issued the warning in April last year during a tense conversation with the chief prosecutor of the ICC, Karim Khan.

Khan declared less than a month afterwards that he was eyeing arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, Yoav Gallant, Israel’s ex-defence minister as well as some Hamas leaders.

Khan urged for his office and the court to be permitted to conduct their duties with “full independence and impartiality.” He said: “I insist that all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence the officials of this Court must cease immediately.”

Cameron stated it was acceptable to charge Russia for a “war of aggression” on Ukraine. However, he argued that prosecuting Israel was different, as it was “defending itself from the attacks of 7 October.” He warned that if the ICC released warrants for Israeli leaders, the UK would “defund the court and withdraw from the Rome Statute.”

The Rome Statute article 127, the ICC’s original charter, permits nations to leave via a written notice sent to the UN secretary-general.

Previously on April 3rd, Hungary declared it would begin pulling out of the ICC. This move set it apart from the rest of the European Union, Maghrebi via The National reported.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, declared: “Hungary will withdraw from the International Criminal Court.” The move aligns with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Budapest. It marked Netanyahu’s first trip to Europe since the ICC issued an arrest for suspected Gaza war offenses.

Orban openly criticised the ICC’s ruling. He called the arrest warrant for Netanyahu “shameful”, “outrageously impudent” and “cynical.” The Hungarian government’s choice to leave the ICC directly opposes the EU’s pro-ICC position.

Middle East Eye, Maghrebi.org, The National