Benjamin Netanyahu faces arrest if he enters Britain after an international arrest warrant was issued for him, Downing Street has said.
No 10 refused to explicitly comment on the individual case, saying it was a hypothetical situation, but said the UK would follow its legal obligations.
It comes after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Mr Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, Israel’s former defence minister, over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
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.
Asked whether Mr Netanyahu would be detained if he arrived on British soil, the prime minister’s official spokesman said he could not “talk about specific cases”.
But asked whether the government would comply with the law, he said: “The UK will always comply with its legal obligations as set out by domestic law and indeed international law.”
No 10 said the domestic process linked to ICC arrest warrants has never been used to date by the UK because no one wanted by the international court had visited the country.
Pressed on whether a secretary of state would comply with requirements under the International Criminal Court Act 2001, Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said: “Yes, the government would fulfil its obligations under the Act and indeed its legal obligations.”
The Act states that the Secretary of State must, on receipt of a request for arrest from the ICC, “transmit the request and the documents accompanying it to an appropriate judicial officer”.
The spokesperson also said Sir Keir will continue to speak to Mr Netanyahu “in order to conduct the essential business of reaching a ceasefire in the Middle East”.
It comes after home secretary Yvette Cooper on Friday morning refused to say whether Mr Netanyahu would be arrested if he came to the UK.
She said “there are proper processes that need to be followed”, adding that it wouldn’t be appropriate for the home secretary “to comment on individual cases in a speculative way”.
“That’s not a matter for me as home secretary as the International Criminal Court is, of course, independent, and we respect its independence and the role that it has to play”, she told Sky News.
“In the overwhelming majority of international criminal court investigations, they never become a matter for either the British law enforcement processes or for the British government.
“In any case, whether they ever do, there are proper processes that need to be followed, and therefore it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment on those.”
Ms Cooper added that the government believes the “focus should be on getting a ceasefire in Gaza”.
A domestic court process would be required before Mr Netanyahu faced arrest if he set foot in the UK.
The issuing of warrants for the Israeli prime minister and ex-defence minister along with a Hamas leader, led to critics claiming the court was drawing a moral equivalence between the government of a democracy and a group banned as a terrorist organisation in many countries, including the UK.
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said the warrants were “concerning and provocative”, calling for the government to “condemn and challenge” the ICC ruling.
She criticised the ICC for drawing comparisons between Israel’s actions in Gaza and the Hamas terrorist atrocity on October 7, 2023, which triggered the military response.
On Thursday, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “This government has been clear that Israel has a right to defend itself in accordance with international law.
“There is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democracy, and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, which are terrorist organisations.
“We remain focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the devastating violence in Gaza which is essential to protect civilians, ensure the release of hostages, and to increase humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
The ICC said there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant were responsible for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
The ICC pre-trial chamber also found “reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant each bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population”.
However, 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.
Mr Netanyahu said Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions” and “there is nothing more just than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza”.
