Donald Trump could sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) this week over its arrest warrant issued for Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Office insiders believe.
Karim Khan KC, the British lawyer who is the ICC’s chief prosecutor, may be personally targeted in the action, given the fierce criticism of Mr Trump’s allies over his decision.
The move could become one of the first points of tension between the US administration under Mr Trump, as he is inaugurated as the US president on Monday, and Sir Keir Starmer.
Mr Trump’s allies gave a heated response to the ICC’s decision in late November to order an arrest warrant for Mr Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Yoav Gallant, his former defence minister, over the conflict in Gaza.
But Sir Keir’s official spokesman said at the time: “We respect the independence of the ICC.”
Multiple ministers and UK officials then indicated Mr Netanyahu would be arrested if he came to the UK.
Any ICC sanctions could become an early test for how Sir Keir and Mr Trump will get along as fellow world leaders.
A senior Whitehall source said they had been briefed to expect sanctions against the ICC.
The source stressed that it was still uncertain if, how and when Mr Trump could act. The US is not a member of the ICC, unlike the UK.
During the first Trump presidency ICC officials investigating alleged US war crimes in Afghanistan were targeted with sanctions.
The ICC, established in 2002 to investigate war crimes and other crimes against humanity, looked at Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel in 2023 and Israel’s subsequent military operation in Gaza.
In November, the ICC announced that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant had been found to “each bear criminal responsibility” for acts including “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare” and arrest warrants were issued.
An arrest warrant was also ordered for Mohammed Deif, a Hamas commander deemed “responsible for the crimes against humanity” including “murder”. Israeli spokesmen have said Deif has already been killed in the conflict.
The move means that ICC members – including the UK – are obliged to arrest Mr Netanyahu if he comes to the UK. Sir Keir’s Government has indicated that would happen, but has fallen short of being explicit.
The question of whether Mr Netanyahu has diplomatic immunity and therefore it would be unlawful to arrest him if he came to the UK while Israeli prime minister has been raised by leading Conservatives and some lawyers.
Figures expected to play a senior role in Mr Trump’s administration suggested the ICC would be sanctioned when the arrest warrants were announced on Nov 21, after the Republican candidate had won the US presidential election.