The federal government is finding itself in a diplomatic dilemma due to the threat of an international arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and, unlike its most important allies, has reacted with extreme caution to the request from the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). While the USA expressed sharp criticism and France expressed demonstrative support, the Foreign Office in Berlin initially left it with a cryptic statement in which respect for the independence of the court was emphasized, but also criticism of the simultaneity of the applications for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Joav Galant on one side and three leaders of the terrorist organization Hamas on the other.
“The Federal Government categorically rejects any semblance of comparability,” a government spokesman said on Tuesday. The Federal Government has always emphasized Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas’ murderous attacks in accordance with international law. “Against this background, the chief prosecutor’s allegations are serious and must be substantiated,” he said. Germany assumes “that the fact that Israel is a democratic constitutional state with a strong, independent judiciary will be taken into account.” US President Joe Biden had previously described the chief prosecutor’s actions as “outrageous.” Israel and the Islamist Hamas should not be treated equally. If an arrest warrant is issued, Netanyahu would risk arrest if he traveled to Germany. Possible effects on bilateral cooperation are currently being examined.
The federal government has campaigned for the criminal court
In any case, there would be a collision of key interests for the federal government. The federal government has repeatedly emphasized the special relationship with Israel resulting from the Holocaust and, particularly after the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7th, has reiterated that Israel’s security is part of the German raison d’être. Germany held back longer and more strongly than other Western countries in criticizing the Israeli military operation in Gaza. On the other hand, supporting the ICC is also a central foreign policy concern of the Federal Government. This applies not least to the arrest warrant against Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“Now the reason of state is being put to the test – without any ifs or buts,” explained Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor. “The statement that Israel has the right to self-defense loses credibility if our hands are tied as soon as we exercise it,” he said. The background to Prosor’s warning is a controversial domestic political debate that has already begun about the correct answer to the chief prosecutor’s request in The Hague. The SPD’s foreign policy spokesman in the Bundestag, Nils Schmid, called on the federal government to accept the ICC’s actions. “German foreign policy is committed to international law and its institutions and should respect the work of the ICC on this issue too,” he said. However, there was also sharp criticism from both the traffic light coalition and the opposition.
“A court does not make decisions in a vacuum. The chief prosecutor of the ICC makes himself the butcher of those who unscrupulously equate Hamas terror with the right of defense of the attacked state,” complained the chairman of the foreign policy committee in the Bundestag, Michael Roth (SPD ), on the short message service X and spoke of a “black day for international law”. The CDU foreign expert Roderich Kiesewetter even called for Netanyahu to be demonstratively invited to Germany. Israel’s democratically legitimized head of government is being “treated like the war criminal and aggressor Putin,” although Israel is only defending itself against “Iran and its proxies (deputies).” “Whoever issues and supports this arrest warrant is clearly advocating a perpetrator-victim reversal,” said Kiesewetter Picture-Newspaper.
Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu called chief prosecutor Karim Khan “one of the great anti-Semites of the modern age.” Khan is “hard-heartedly pouring fuel on the fires of anti-Semitism that are raging around the world.” The chief prosecutor “now stands side by side with those infamous German judges who put on their robes and advocated for laws that denied the Jewish people their most basic rights and enabled the Nazis to commit the worst crime in history.”