Benjamin Netanyahu is unlikely to be arrested in Britain, says Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
She stressed that the “overwhelming” majority of rulings by the International Criminal Court do not turn into issues for the British law enforcement system.
Netanyahu has condemned the arrest warrant issued against him by the world’s top war-crimes court and US president Joe Biden condemned it as “outrageous”.
The UK is a signatory of the ICC, unlike America, and Ms Cooper stressed the Government respected its independence and rulings.
Asked on Sky News whether Netanyahu would be arrested if he came to the UK, she said: “In the overwhelming majority of International Criminal Court investigations they never become a matter for either the British legal rule and law enforcement processes or for the British government.
“In any case, where they ever do there are proper processes that need to be followed and therefore it would not be appropriate for me to comment on those.”
Downing Street later said that process set out for an arrest in the International Criminal Court Act 2001 “has not been used to date”.
Under the legislation, a Secretary of State would make an application to a court for an arrest warrant for an individual indicted by the ICC who came to the UK.
However, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The UK has never been visited by an ICC indictee.”
If that happened, the Government would follow its obligations under the act, he added, and the final decision would be made by an independent court.
The warrants by the International Criminal Court accuse the Israeli prime minister, his former defence minister, and Hamas' military chief of crimes against humanity during the 13-month war in Gaza.
The warrants allege there is reason to believe Mr Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant have used "starvation as a method of warfare" by restricting humanitarian aid and have intentionally targeted civilians in Israel's campaign against Hamas.
Mr Netanayahu condemned the warrants as "antisemitic", saying the ICC was "falsely" accusing them "of deliberately targeting civilians, this when we do everything in our power to avoid civilian casualties".
He said: “The court in The Hague accuses us of a deliberate policy of starvation. This when we have supplied Gaza with 700,000 tons of food to feed the people of Gaza.”
US president Joe Biden called it “outrageous", saying: “Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence - none - between Israel and Hamas.
“We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security."
The statement was a marked contrast in tone with prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, with Downing Street saying the Government respected the independence of the ICC.
The ICC also issued a warrant for Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas' armed wing, over the October 7, 2023 attacks that triggered Israel's offensive in Gaza.
Israel is believed to have killed Deif in an airstrike, but Hamas has never confirmed his death.
The impact of the warrants is likely to be limited since Israel and its major ally, the United States, are not members of the ICC.
The action by the International Criminal Court came as the death toll from Israel's campaign in Gaza passed 44,000 people, according to local health authorities, who say more than half of those killed were women and children.
Their count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
Experts say hunger has become widespread across Gaza and may have reached famine levels in the north of the territory, which is under siege by Israeli troops.
