Last month Lord Hermer told the he would not allow political considerations to influence his conclusions if the ICC were to issue an arrest warrant.
“My advice [on an arrest warrant for Mr Netanyahu] would be legal advice, based on analysis of the law,” he said.
“It’s not for the attorney to dictate what a government chooses to do. The role of the attorney is to provide fearless legal advice as to what the law requires, what the contents of the law is, and where the law takes you. And that’s what I’m going to do.”
Following the arrest warrants being issued on Thursday, Downing Street said the UK government respected the ICC’s independence and remained focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The court also issued a warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, who Israel says was killed in July, over alleged war crimes in relation to the 7 October 2023 attacks against Israel.
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel criticised the ICC for drawing a “moral equivalence” between Israel’s actions in Gaza and the 7 October attacks.
She called on the government to “condemn and challenge” the court’s decision, describing it as “concerning and provocative”.
After winning power, the new Labour government scrapped its predecessor’s plan to challenge the right of the ICC to issue arrest warrants, saying it was a matter for the judges to decide.
The impact of the warrants will depend on whether the court’s 124 member states – which do not include Israel or its ally, the US – decide to enforce them or not.
US President Joe Biden has called the arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister “outrageous”, saying there is “no equivalence” between Israel and Hamas.
However, officials from a number of European countries have made statements standing by the court and said they would implement its decision.
Both Israel and Hamas reject the allegations made by the ICC, with Netanyahu branding the warrant “antisemitic”.
Netanyahu condemned the ICC’s decision as “antisemitic”. Hamas made no mention of the warrant for Deif but welcomed the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot has told the that the ICC’s decision “is the formalisation of an accusation, it is by no means a judgement”.
He told the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show: “We also say that we’ve condemned, in [the] strongest possible terms, the fact that humanitarian help has not been able to reach civil populations in Gaza while the situation is catastrophic.
“But in no way do we draw any form of equivalence between the Hamas leaders that have been targeted by arrest warrants by the ICC and the government of Israel.”
