G7 Foreign ministers are set for a meeting to reach a common position on the recent arrest warrant issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the International Criminal Court of Justice, ICC.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who is hosting the two-day conference in the small Italian town of Fiuggi, said on Monday that he does not think reaching a consensus on the arrest warrant will be difficult.
“It’s not an immediate and actual problem. I don’t think Netanyahu will come to Italy or anywhere else,” he told the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera before the meeting.
Recall that the ICC on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and the recently dismissed Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant.
The warrant which also affected the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif, followed alleged war crimes relating to the conflict in Gaza.
Israel’s allies had criticised the decision and member states of the ICC were generally obliged to enforce the arrest warrants, though there is disagreement over how to handle Netanyahu’s case.
In addition to the Middle East crisis, the war in Ukraine and the implications of Donald Trump’s re-election as U.S. president for the international order are among the main topics on the agenda for the meeting, which is the final one between the G7 foreign ministers for this year.
The G7 foreign ministers would also discuss the threat to the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan, which the Chinese Communist leadership in Beijing regards as its territory.
Italy holds the presidency of the G7 until the end of the year.