Tldr, the headline makes it sound as if Germany is outright refusing to arrest Netanyahu right now. That headline is clickbait and only partially right:
- 1 German government spokesperson gave a muddied non-response, questioning the authority of the ICC
- There is no Netanyahu or Gallant visit planned
- The current German government is on its way out (although the likelihood of a harder stance on Israel under a new government is slim)
Germany. You NEED to arrest him BECAUSE of the nazi history. Never again means never again. Not arresting him means now you’re accountable for 2 genocides.
-
As a former colonial power and during WWII, Germans committed at least 2 genocides.
-
There is a major difference between committing a genocide and watching/minorly aiding another nation committing a genocide. I’d argue that German influence on Israeli behavior is minor—but that’s admittedly conjecture.
-
Around 70% of the German populace are currently against delivering weapons to Israel (according to Körber Foundation). There’s a disconnect between people and government at times.
No I’m not. And if I was, I would still stand by it. Just because the US gvt is trash doesn’t mean we can’t hope for other countries to do what is right.
My mistake. I’ve seen you frequently comment on US government posts and assumed incorrectly.
Here a less sensationalist headline and more nuanced article:
DW is run by the German government to further the image of Germany abroad.
The mere fact that the government refuses to acknowledge the ICCs competence to issue the warrant and the obligation to enforce it as a member state, instead saying it needs to examine first, is an attack on the court.
When pressed on the matter in todays press conference they said the ICCs jurisdiction to be " not uncontested" despite the ICC having ruled this in 2021. And stating Germanys historical responsibility and calling arrests “hypothetical” and “difficult to imagine” show a warped understanding of what courts and laws are.
There is no exception. There is no individual alteration by a state. The orders of the court are to be respected and enforced if possible.
This is an “only yes means yes” kind of situation.
You’re reading that “examinate” in a very specific way. Baerbock says:
“We abide by the law at the national, European, and international level,” she said. “And that is why we are now examining exactly what this means for us in terms of its international application.”
She didn’t say “we’ll examine whether we’re bound to arrest him”, in fact she implicitly said the opposite (“we abide by law”) but “we are examining what it means for us”. As in: They’re looking into how to tell the Israelis that nope, Netanyahu better not come over because the government can’t give him diplomatic immunity when the courts would rather have him arrested. If Netanyahu wants to he could make a scene out of that and how to deal with that kind of situation is, well, what diplomats get paid for. What’s for sure is that Germany won’t spring a trap on him, saying he can come but then arresting him.
Ideally, Israel will extradite him once he’s out of office, or just plainly try him themselves. How to tell the Israelis that that’s indeed the best move they could make (not the left they would happily string up Bibi themselves but people like Gantz) is another thing worth examination.
Diring the press conference yesterday the government speaker Hebestreit said that an “examination” is necessary as the jurisdiction of the ICC would be “not uncontested” despite this having been discussed and ruled by the court in 2021. When asked what Germany did in those three years he said they havent declared to recognise that ruling hence now they have to examine…
Here is the conference to watch. The arrest warrants come up at around minute 4
Wanting to uphold international law and clearly supporting the institutions of international law is terrorism now?
Wanting war crimes to be prevented and punished is terrorism now?
Not wanting millions of people to be starved, ethnically cleansed or murdered is terrorism now?
Germany, you are not a nazi if you arrest a genocidal maniac. By arresting him you are proving you are not a nazi.
What? Germany neither created Israel (although German politics definitely did have a major influence) nor gave Netanyahu power (zero influence on that).