After recognizing Palestine, Norway says ready to arrest Netanyahu, Galante

“It is the court that decides to issue an arrest warrant, and if that happens, all countries that signed the Rome Statute that established the court will have to respond to it,” Eddy explained, according to a statement quoting him.

The remarks were picked up by Israeli media, with the Israel Broadcasting Authority saying Norway was “the first European country to threaten the arrest of Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galante”.

The threat was ineffective as neither the prime minister nor the defense minister will be visiting Norway anytime soon, according to Neue Izvestia.

The newspaper pointed out that Norway, along with Spain and Ireland, is currently one of the most hostile countries to Israel in Europe, and its relations with Tel Aviv have deteriorated to an unprecedented level.

Israeli newspapers compared Norway to Britain, which criticized the decision by ICC prosecutor Karim Khan.

Khan announced in a televised statement on Monday that he had requested arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, defense minister and three Hamas leaders.

He said that no matter what military objectives Israel hopes to achieve in Gaza, the court prosecutors believe that the means by which it achieves these objectives “that is, intentionally causing death, famine, great suffering and serious harm to the body or health of civilians are criminal acts.” “

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris confirmed Ireland’s recognition of the Palestinian state in a joint statement with Oslo and Madrid on Wednesday. “Today, Ireland, Norway and Spain announced their recognition of the state of Palestine,” Harris said, adding that “this is a historic and important day for Ireland and Palestine.” “We are confident that more countries will join us in this step,” he added.