We will ‘comply with international law’ on Netanyahu arrest: Wong

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has given her strongest indication that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he travelled to Australia, saying any decision “will be informed by international law, not by politics”.

Wong said she would not “speculate on hypotheticals” about the likelihood of an arrest, striking a more cautious tone than senior politicians from other International Criminal Court member states who have explicitly said they would detain Netanyahu if he entered their territory.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia would comply with international law. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The court last week issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, former defence minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict.

As one of the 124 member states of the ICC, Australia is supposed to abide by the rulings of the court, but it is up to sovereign states to enforce the law.

“What I can say to the chamber is that Australia will act consistently with our obligations under international law and our approach will be informed by international law, not by politics,” Wong told the Senate on Monday.

The federal government’s refusal to denounce the arrest warrants has further strained relations with Israel, after Australia voted against the Jewish state in several high-profile United Nations votes and denied former Israeli government minister Ayelet Shaked a visa to travel to Australia.

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp has made clear Netanyahu would be arrested if he set foot in the Netherlands, saying: “When it comes to arrest warrants, it is clear: we execute an arrest warrant.”

The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, posted on social media platform X: “These decisions are binding on all states party to the Rome Statute, which includes all EU member states.”

By contrast, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his nation, saying he would guarantee that an arrest warrant would “not be observed” even though Hungary is an ICC member.

The Coalition has attacked Labor for not taking a similar stance to United States President Joe Biden, who decried the court’s move as “outrageous”.

“Let me be clear once again: whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence, none, between Israel and Hamas,” Biden said last week.

Wong noted she had said many times that there was no equivalence between Hamas, a listed terrorist organisation in Australia, and the democratically elected government of Israel.

In response to questions from Coalition frontbencher Michaelia Cash, Wong said: “We actually believe that adherence to international law is a matter of principle, and it is in Australia’s interests.”

“We respect the independence of the International Criminal Court and its important role in upholding international law,” she said.

Wong said that, unlike Australia, the US was not a party to the Rome Statute, which gave effect to the ICC and was ratified by the Howard government in 2002.

Cash said over the weekend that Australia “has grounds” to reconsider its membership of the court because of the arrest warrant.

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