Germany’s federal government has not ruled out ordering the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if a corresponding arrest warrant is issued by the International Criminal Court. The relevant statement of the government representative provoked the reaction of the opposition.

Asked whether the federal government would seek his arrest Benjamin Netanyahu on German soil, since a similar warrant had been issued, Steffen Hebstreit replied “of course, we follow the law”, stressing at the same time that this is a hypothetical question. Respecting the decisions of the ICC is a “fundamental” position of the government, explained Mr. Hempstrait. In the same vein, Foreign Minister Analena Burbock, in an interview with BILD, said to a similar question: “We have always supported the International Criminal Court as a government – both the chancellery and us as the foreign ministry. We value the independence of the courts. We can’t choose, today we like a dish and tomorrow we don’t.”

“The silence of the federal government, including the government spokesman’s statement that Benjamin Netanyahu could be arrested on German soil, is really turning into a scandal,” Christian Democratic Party (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz said, noting that “of course one could – and it should – criticize the Israeli government, but the International Criminal Court was established to hold dictators and authoritarian leaders to account, not to arrest democratically elected members of governments.” Mr. Mertz also asked that the chancellor himself take a position on the matter. “What is the value of the famous solidarity with Israel, if the representative of the German government allows himself to be drawn into such statements? Is this the chancellor’s view as well?”, asked the CDU leader.

The party’s defense minister Johan Vandepoul also criticized the government, calling Mr Hebstreit’s statement “disturbing, especially on a completely hypothetical basis” and adding that “it is absolutely unthinkable that a democratically elected head of government of the State of Israel should be arrested by state order on German soil’.

On the government’s side, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) avoided answering directly, stating that “at the moment we are talking about a request to issue arrest warrants and not about issuing them.” However, referring to the ICC prosecutor’s recommendation to issue warrants against the leadership of Hamas on the one hand and the prime minister and defense minister of Israel on the other, he noted: “To be honest, I don’t really understand the fact that two dissimilar things are packed into one package.’

The federal government, however, continues to reject the possibility of recognizing a Palestinian state. “The goal remains a two-state solution after negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, at the end of which it will be accepted that there is a separate Palestinian state,” said the government spokesman, commenting on the announcements by Norway, Ireland and Spain. Mr. Hebstreit added that this would take time and that it could not be shortened through recognition by some European states.