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EU warns member states against ‘undermining’ ICC arrest warrants, slams ‘colonization’ of Israeli society

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell defends International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and ex-defense minister, warns EU member states not to ignore or ‘undermine’ the decision by refusing to arrest Netanyahu.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News Staff

The 27 member states of the European Union must strictly adhere to last week’s decision by the International Criminal Court at The Hague to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the EU’s top diplomat said Thursday.

Speaking with reporters in Brussels on Thursday, Josep Borrell, the outgoing High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, warned European leaders not to ignore or “undermine” the ICC arrest warrants, and defended the court’s decision last Thursday to arrest the senior Israeli leaders.

“We cannot undermine the International Criminal Court,” Borrell said. “It is the only way of having global justice. It is the only way to implement accountability.”

“If the Europeans do not support fully the International Court, without procrastination, then the International Criminal Court will not work.”

The court’s decision against Netanyahu and Gallant, Borrell argued, was “not political.” The court “is a legal body formed by respected people who are the best among the profession of judges.”

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Borrell rejected accusations of antisemitism in the decision against the Israeli leaders, citing the involvement of some Holocaust survivors in advising the ICC.

“Survivors of the Shoah has been among the people who were advising the International Criminal Court. So, the accusation of antisemitism is once again a failure word.”

Speaking just days before the end of his term as the EU’s foreign affairs chief, Borrell made scathing criticisms not only of Israel’s handling of the war against Hamas, but also Israeli society as a whole, claiming extremist elements have created a “different Israel.”

“Israeli society is being colonised from the inside by extremism and violent people. The colonists are not only expanding on the Israeli territory. The colonisation of the mind of the people is the most dangerous thing that Israeli society is facing because it is undermining the foundations of their democracy.”