Overview
- Prime Minister Mark Carney told Bloomberg he would have Benjamin Netanyahu detained if the Israeli leader entered Canada in order to honor the ICC arrest warrant.
- An Israeli government spokesperson, Shosh Bedrosian, urged Carney to reconsider and to welcome Netanyahu, criticizing Canada’s recognition of a Palestinian state as a “prize for terrorism.”
- The ICC issued warrants in 2024 for Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza, which Israel rejects; reporting this week said the court recently denied an Israeli bid to appeal the warrants.
- Carney linked Canada’s recognition of a Palestinian state to what he described as actions by Netanyahu’s government aimed at ending any possibility of Palestinian statehood, reiterating that recognition is not the policy end point.
- Enforcement remains uneven across ICC members, with countries like the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Belgium signaling compliance while others including Hungary, Germany, France, the UK and Italy have indicated they may not, influencing leaders’ travel routes.