Election 2025: ‘I would defy ICC, welcome Benjamin Netanyahu to Australia’, says Peter Dutton

Peter Dutton has attacked the International Criminal Court and says he would welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Australia | Watch the video.

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Peter Dutton has attacked the International Criminal Court and warned that a Dutton government would welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Australia in defiance of the court’s ruling.

This follows the November 2024 decision of the ICC to issue arrest warrants against Mr Netanyahu which means he risks being arrested if he travels to any of the 124 nations that have signed the statute establishing the court. The Howard government signed after an intense internal debate.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Picture: AFP

“He would be a welcome guest in our country,” Mr Dutton said in an interview with The Australian when questioned about how he saw Mr Netanyahu’s status. “He would be accorded the respect that the Israeli Prime Minister should be accorded. I hold very dearly the relationship with Israel. I will never, never follow the Albanese path of seeking to find political advantage in demonising people of Jewish heritage and the Israeli government.”

The Opposition Leader’s position means Australia will be brought into conflict with the international court under a ­Coalition government. Mr Dutton made clear he had no problem with such a conflict. He attacked the ICC’s findings in relation to ­Israel, saying: “I have grave concerns about the conduct of the International Criminal Court. I’ll state that and I’ll be very clear about it. I have grave misgivings about their approach, about the culture, and what this means for Israel and for our allies.”

The rift between the Dutton-led Coalition and the Albanese government extends to the integrity of the ICC, its actions against Mr Netanyahu and the issue of whether Australia would enforce the provisions of the court in our jurisdiction. These are potentially explosive foreign policy, legal and moral issues with major differences between the parties.

The Hungarian government of right-wing populist Viktor Orban recently announced its intention to withdraw from the ICC on the eve of Mr Netanyahu’s visit to Hungary. Hungary would be the first European Union country to withdraw from the ICC.

The arrest warrants issued by the court were in relation to Mr Netanyahu, former Israeli ­defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas military leader ­Mohammed Deif. In January Hamas confirmed that Israel had killed the Hamas leader. The ICC, however, has come under intense criticism over its warrants.

At the time Israel, the United States and Germany attacked what they saw as a “false impression of equivalence” between Israel, a democratic state, and Hamas, a terrorist organisation. Former US president Joe Biden called the ICC’s decision “outrageous”. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia respected the court’s independence and said “all parties to the conflict must comply with international criminal law”.

While the Labor government has not directly said it would ­arrest Mr Netanyahu, the Foreign Minister has invited such an implication. It seems, therefore, Mr Netanyahu would not visit Australia under the Albanese government. The only interpretation is that the Albanese government ­regards Mr Netanyahu as a likely war criminal who deserves to be put on trial.

Former Liberal foreign minister Alexander Downer, who was the minister authorising Australia’s decision to join the court, has attacked the court’s decision, and said Australia should consider withdrawing from the ICC. Tony Abbott has reinforced this position. Scott Morrison said the ICC was no longer an institution that Australia should support.

The problem with the ICC ruling is that it imposes war crimes limitations on the capacity of democratic nations to defend their sovereignty. The ruling of the court suggests it would regard the actions of Britain and America in World War II as war crimes, given the massive extent of civilian casualties and the deliberate targeting of civilians by allied leaders. The ICC decision took no account of the fact that Israel was defending itself after the October 7 attack by Hamas.

Mr Dutton said: “Israel and Australia, at a government level, have no relationship. At the ­moment, the Foreign Minister is essentially persona non grata. I think they have done a lot of damage to our international reputation as a result of hanging Israel out to dry.”