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Mützenich calls for an unbiased examination of the allegations against Netanyahu
SPD parliamentary group leader Mützenich: Distance from Netanyahu
© Kay Nietfeld / DPA
The arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu has been met with widespread criticism. SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich warns that despite the problematic approach of the International Criminal Court in star to restraint.
SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich is calling for an unbiased review of the allegations against Israel’s prime minister, despite the problematic approach of the International Criminal Court Benjamin Netanyahu. “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 the star. Hamas’ crimes are unprecedented and incomparable. “If the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court was able to collect reliable 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 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 prosecutor’s actions.”
Joe Biden is outraged by the criminal court
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Karim Khan, requested an arrest warrant on Monday for Netanyahu and Israel’s Defense Minister Joav Galant for alleged crimes against humanity. Arrest warrants were also requested for the leader of the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, his deputy and the Hamas foreign chief.
The arrest warrant throws German politicians, for whom Israel’s interests are a matter of state, into a dilemma. With his statements, Mützenich sets a different tone than, for example, the Foreign Office of Annalena Baerbock (Greens). There, the criminal court’s actions met with clear criticism. The parallel application for an arrest warrant against Netanyahu and the leadership of the radical Islamic Hamas gives the “incorrect impression of an equation,” the Foreign Office said. Other Western allies went further in their criticism. US President Joe Biden was “outraged” by the request. France, on the other hand, supported the criminal court.