The German minority government made up of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Greens would definitely have preferred to avoid the issue, even though they should have seen it coming a long time ago: The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The court justified its decision, saying it had found sufficient evidence indicating that both were complicit in crimes against humanity and war crimes as part of Israel's ongoing offensive in Gaza. The military campaign began after Gaza-based group  Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. An arrest warrant was also issued for Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif with the same charges, even though Israel says it killed Deif in July.

Germany is regarded as one of the biggest supporters of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which began its activities in July 2002 and is supported by 124  states. However, it does not include globally important states such as the US or Russia.

What is important in the current case is that the court has no means of enforcing the arrest warrants itself. Member states — including Germany — are formally obliged to take wanted persons into custody should they cross their borders. 

But there is also Germany's historic responsibility towards Israel. This is why Germany's reactions to the decision in The Hague have been mixed. Speaking on ARD television from the climate conference in Baku, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) was the first to react. "We abide by the law at the national, European, and international level," she said. "And that is why we are now examining exactly what this means for us in terms of its international application."

A short time later, the German government followed this up with a press release stating: "The German government has acknowledged the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to request arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant."

As in Baerbock's statement, the word "examination" appears here, too, which is what the government now plans to carry out. And it goes on to say: "Further action will be taken only once Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are expected to visit Germany."

No imminent plans for a Netanyahu visit

Netanyahu was last in Germany around a year and a half ago. And on Friday, other German government politicians stressed, almost with relief, that a visit was not to be expected in the foreseeable future. 

The last time Israel's head of government was in Berlin for political talks was in March 2023, a good six months before the murderous attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7. Hamas is a militant Palestinian group. The European Union, as well as the US, Germany and other countries, have listed it as a terrorist organization.

Israel is one of the 10 countries with which Germany holds intergovernmental consultations: Meetings in which all members of each country's cabinet get together. The purpose of this is to emphasize the special bilateral relationship between the countries. The first such meeting took place in Jerusalem in 2008 under then-Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), and the last was in October 2018.

Government spokesman finds it difficult to imagine an arrest

How does the German government intend to handle the ruling? This is what many journalists wanted to know at a recent press conference.

In response to a question about the conflict between the ruling of the ICC and showing solidarity with Israel, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said: "On the one hand, there is the importance of the International Criminal Court, which we strongly support, and on the other hand there is the historical responsibility you mentioned. This statement should be considered in the light of these two points. I would be inclined to say that I have difficulty imagining that we would make arrests in Germany on this basis."

While the federal government struggles to find a clear position between its support for Israel and its support for the ICC, other German politicians have had fewer qualms.

For example, Boris Rhein (CDU), who heads the government of the German state of Hesse, called the arrest warrants "absurd" on Friday. Rhein added that Israel has been at war for more than a year, a war that the terrorist organization Hamas unleashed with its attack on innocent citizens. "For me, it is completely out of the question that a democratically elected prime minister from Israel would be arrested on German soil for defending his country against terrorists," Rhein said.

But Rhein also knows that it is currently difficult to imagine Netanyahu visiting Germany.

This article was originally written in German.

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