Benjamin Netanyahu faces arrest if he visits Britain after Sir Keir Starmer backed the International Criminal Court.
The Hague-based court issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister as well as Yoav Gallant, the former Israeli defence minister, and Mohammed Deif, a Hamas commander, on Thursday over the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Britain, along with the other 123 members of the ICC, is responsible for enforcing arrest warrants it issues.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the Government respected the court and refused to rule out that Mr Netanyahu would be arrested if he was to come to the UK, in comments widely interpreted as supportive of the decision.
He said: “We respect the independence of the ICC.”
Arrest warrants ‘deeply concerning’
The Conservatives called on Sir Keir to dismiss the ICC’s arrest demand. Dame Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, said: “The decision by the ICC to issue arrest warrants for the democratically elected leader of Israel and Israel’s former defence minister is deeply concerning and provocative.
“This will do nothing to bring about the release of all hostages held and the bringing of much-needed aid into Gaza.”
She added: “The Labour Government must condemn and challenge the ICC’s decision.”
Under the Conservatives, the government had told the court it intended to challenge plans for the arrest warrants.
However, weeks after coming to power, Sir Keir’s Government reversed that position and said it would not object.
David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, has previously suggested that Britain would comply with an ICC arrest warrant for Mr Netanyahu.
European nations pledge to arrest
The ICC’s most senior prosecutor, the British barrister Karim Khan, urged all its members to act on the arrest warrants. Italy and the Netherlands swiftly pledged to arrest Mr Netanyahu and Canada voiced support for the court.
The announcement caught the UK Government off guard, given officials had not expected an outcome from the long-running proceedings until after Christmas.
Whitehall sources believe a Cabinet minister – possibly the Home Secretary or Justice Secretary – would need to seek a UK arrest warrant from the courts if the Government decided to enforce the ICC’s decision.
The Telegraph has been told no move has yet been taken to order one and Mr Netanyahu has no known plans to visit the UK, avoiding the immediate need for a decision.
The ICC was established in 2002. It has the authority to prosecute those accused of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
This case involved scrutiny of Hamas’s October 7 attack last year and Israel’s subsequent military operation in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant were found to “each bear criminal responsibility” for acts including “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare”, “murder” and “persecution”.
Deif, the Hamas military commander, was found “responsible for the crimes against humanity” including “murder”, “extermination” and “rape”.