Paris | France’s foreign ministry strongly suggested on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not immediately be arrested if he came to French territory, despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant targeting him.

France has been cautious so far in its reaction to the arrest warrants the court issued last week for Mr Netanyahu and his former defence minister, and it did not say outright that Mr Netanyahu would be free to travel to France. But it argued that the court’s rules on immunity applied to Mr Netanyahu and would have to be considered by French authorities.