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Canada PM Carney says will arrest Netanyahu if he enters country, Israel responds
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu last year over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would honour the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and uphold former PM Justin Trudeau's decision to arrest the Israeli leader if he enters Canada.
Carney also said that Canada’s recognition of a Palestinian state was a priority for his policies but not the end goal.
Will arrest Netanyahu if he enters Canada: Mark Carney
In an interview with Bloomberg Podcasts last week, the Canadian Prime Minister was asked if Trudeau’s statement that Canada would follow the ICC’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu, should he visit the country, would stand under the new prime minister’s leadership.
To this, Carney replied, “Yes”. He was then asked, “You’d be prepared to do that?” The Canadian leader responded, “Yes”.
During the interview, Carney was also questioned about Canada’s recognition of a Palestinian state, on which the US fundamentally disagrees, and his next step on the issue.
Responding to this, the Canadian PM said, “I would say recognition is not the end. The end is a free and viable Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security with the state of Israel. That’s the end goal.”
He then explained the reason behind Ottawa’s move. “The actions of the Netanyahu government were explicitly designed to end any possibility of a state of Palestine, in violation of the UN charter and going against Canadian government policy since 1947,” he told Bloomberg Podcasts.
“The US disagrees with the decision that we took, that Spain took, that France took, the United Kingdom took — [that] 150 other countries in the UN have taken. But their common objective is the same,” he added.
Israel urges Carney to drop the pledge
After the Canadian PM’s interview was published, Israel requested Carney to drop the pledge to honour the ICC’s arrest warrant.
"We believe that Prime Minister Carney should, of course, reconsider this and welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu, the leader of the only Jewish state and democratic country in the Middle East, to Canada," Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian told reporters.
Notably, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu last year over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel has denied the charges and rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court.
