Netherlands sees ways for Netanyahu to visit even though the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for him

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on Friday that there might be ways for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the Netherlands without being arrested, even though he has an arrest warrant out for him from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

His words seemed to soften what his foreign minister, Caspar Veldkamp, had said earlier. Last week in parliament, Veldkamp said that the Netherlands fully cooperates with the ICC, which he explained by saying that “we act on arrest warrants for people who are on Dutch territory.”

Schoof told reporters on Friday that there were still times when the Netherlands would not have to arrest Netanyahu because of their duties to the ICC. This would depend on the reason for his visit.

“The most important thing is that we have obligations that come from the treaty (on which the ICC is based), and that we comply to them,” Schoof told a news conference.

Thus, we must decide what to do if the prime minister of Israel were to visit the Netherlands. His ability to enter the Netherlands without being jailed is subject to certain conditions, which are also specified by international law.

Schoof didn’t go into more detail about how Netanyahu could come. He said last week that Netanyahu might not be able to be arrested if he went to a foreign group in the Netherlands, like the OPCW, which is the U.N.’s watchdog for chemical weapons.

The ICC is also based in The Hague, which is in the Netherlands.

Last week, the ICC put out arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, who used to be Netanyahu’s security chief, and a leader of Hamas for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza battle.

All EU member states have signed the ICC’s founding treaty, but France said on Wednesday that it thought Netanyahu was immune from ICC moves because Israel had not signed the court’s rules.

It is not possible to arrest Netanyahu as long as he is in charge of Israel’s government, according to Italy.

Israeli forces went on the offensive in Gaza after Hamas killed many people in an attack on southern Israeli towns on October 7, 2023. Israel has said it will appeal the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.