French foreign ministry says it respects the decision of the court to issue arrest warrants but that the Israeli prime minister remains immune while in office

France was among the first states that announced they would uphold the court’s decision, although officials have not explicitly said they would arrest Netanyahu.

However, the ministry on Wednesday alleged that Netanyahu is covered by immunity as a sitting head of government because Israel is not a member of the ICC. It is the first time a member of the court has argued this in Netanyahu’s case.

France’s argument was previously used by states that refused to arrest Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Omar al-Bashir of Sudan. But the court has consistently rejected those arguments as unfounded.