France will adhere to its global obligations but understands the Rome Statute to demand “full cooperation” with the International Criminal Court and stipulate that “a state cannot be required to act inconsistently with its obligations under international law with respect to the immunities of states not party to the ICC,” the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs stated on Wednesday.

“Such immunities apply to Prime Minister Netanyahu and the other ministers concerned and will have to be taken into account should the ICC request of us their arrest and surrender,” the French ministry said, of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the former defense minister.

The court, which is based in The Hague, is a stand-alone judicial body, which is not part of the United Nations. Israel is not a signatory to the court.

“In accordance with the long-standing friendship between France and Israel, two democracies committed to the rule of law and to respect for a professional and independent justice system, France intends to continue working in close cooperation with Prime Minister Netanyahu and the other Israeli authorities to achieve peace and security for all in the Middle East,” the French ministry added, per the English translation its website provides of the announcement.

Marine Tondelier, national secretary of the French, leftwing political party the Ecologists (Greens), wrote in French that the ministry’s announcement was “a disgrace.”

“This is what you call a nice backpedal, and I’m afraid I understand why,” she wrote, per an English translation of her social media post. “France is once again bowing to Benjamin Netanyahu’s demands by choosing him over international justice.”

“If we follow the logic of what this press release says to its conclusion, what should we understand? That Putin will not be arrested if he comes to UNESCO?” she added. “Historical error, very very serious. We are sweeping away international justice and the multilateral system that we have patiently built up over decades.”

The Hague court issued warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu and Gallant on Nov. 21 for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes.

More than 120 countries are signatories to the Rome Statute, the 2002 treaty which established the International Criminal Court, requiring them to act on the court’s warrants.

David Lammy, the U.K. foreign secretary, said on Monday that if Netanyahu visited the country, “there would be a court process and due process.”

U.S. military experts have said that the court is damaging its legitimacy and Netanyahu’s office has called the warrants a “modern Dreyfus trial.” Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle decried the warrants, include one congressman who called the ICC a “kangaroo court” with an “ideological crusade against the Jewish state.”

Israel has told JNS that it is investigating why it paid its $17.6 million annual dues to the United Nations on the same day that the ICC issued the warrants, relying in part on U.N. assessments of food security in Gaza.

(JNS)