Reactions ranged from welcoming the International Criminal Court’s decision to slamming it as “appalling” and “non comprehensible.”
While Israeli politicians of all stripes have sharply rebuked the International Criminal Court’s request for arrest warrants for its top officials, European leaders’ reactions are split.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan filed applications Monday for arrests of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, as well as the commander of Hamas’s military wing and Israel’s defense minister, citing allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Israel and the State of Palestine.
“Crimes committed in Gaza must be prosecuted at the highest level, regardless of the perpetrators,” Belgium’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Hadja Lahbib, wrote in a statement on X, emphasizing Belgium’s support for the work of the ICC.
Slovenia’s foreign ministry issued a statement in a similar vein, stating that war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on Israeli and Palestinian territory “must be prosecuted independently and impartially regardless of the perpetrators.”
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Other EU leaders saw the decision less favorably.
“The ICC Chief Prosecutor’s proposal to issue an arrest warrant for the representatives of a democratically elected government together with the leaders of an Islamist terrorist organisation is appalling and completely unacceptable,” Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala wrote.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer expressed similar reservations.
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In London, the United Kingdom’s government distanced itself from the ICC’s move.
The Czech government has always had Israel bootlickers. It’s not hard to imagine why they’re the most vocal apologetics for the massacre.
Anyway, thankfully common Czechs showed a bit of reason for a change and don’t care about the issue while being very supportive and accomodating (most per capita) to Ukrainian refugees.
More info in my comment under a post about the shredder escapade last week