Former Judge Andrew Napolitano told Newsmax on Friday that American troops would "free" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he were arrested to face prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The ICC on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The court also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, who Israel claims to have killed in an airstrike and who is also accused of crimes against humanity.
Napolitano said on "Wake Up America" that "The ICC is a creature of something called the Treaty of Rome. This is not the [International Court of Justice], which is a creature of the U.N. The Treaty of Rome was signed by 160 countries, it was not signed by the United States or Israel, and it basically permits the court to indict people who the court believes committed war crimes, whether they're from the countries that signed it or not."
However, the former judge added that "the chances of Prime Minister Netanyahu being arrested and prosecuted are very, very slim and probably none and none" because the United States, when it declined to sign the treaty that created the ICC, "said, 'You arrest any of our people, we will invade the arresting authority and free our people.'"
Napolitano added, "My guess is that the U.S. would treat Prime Minister Netanyahu as if he were an American," and later said that "the only places that are safe for him now are Israel and the U.S."
Napolitano also warned that "if by some stretch he is arrested … outside of the U.S., expect American troops to free him."
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