Argentina rejects International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu

Argentina's Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that Argentina rejected the International Criminal Court prosecutor's request for arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

On Monday, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan asked the ICC to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, and Mohammed Deif.

The Argentinian Foreign Ministry condemned equating "The legitimate authorities of a democratic state" with the terrorist organization of Hamas. 

The Foreign Ministry rejected this equation and said that the decision calls into question Israel's right to self-defense, which Argentina reaffirmed and upheld.

Argentina also criticized the decision as having overlooked the independence of the Israeli court system, which is supposed to be given the opportunity to act on the charges before the ICC issues arrest warrants.

"The Prosecutor seems to have overlooked the work of the Israeli courts in the investigations into the alleged acts, and he has not given the local judiciary the opportunity to carry out their function with all relevant guarantees."

Argentina expressed frustration at the Prosecutor's decision, describing it as unhelpful and saying it would not help release the hostages.

"The Argentine Government believes the Prosecutor’s behavior does not contribute to improving the situation, but rather further hinders the efforts to secure the release of the hostages still held captive by Hamas, to allow access to humanitarian aid, and to reach a long-term solution to the crisis."

Milei a strong supporter of Israel

President Javier Milei has been a strong supporter of Israel since his inauguration in December, even visiting in early February, when he vowed to move the Argentinian Embassy to Jerusalem.

He has regularly reaffirmed Argentina’s geopolitical alignment with the US and Israel and offered his “undeniable” solidarity to Israel, according to the Buenos Aires Times.

Milei has regularly expressed his desire to convert to Judaism; however, his personal spiritual advisor, Rabbi Axel Wahnish, persuaded him to wait until the end of his term as president. Even before his victory, Milei had begun studying the Torah and preparing to convert.