Netanyahu arrest warrant shows Keir Starmer’s Israel dilemma – POLITICO

LONDON — Will Benjamin Netanyahu be arrested if he sets foot in the U.K.? The British government can’t quite say.

The International Criminal Court warrant for the Israeli PM’s arrest — to face charges “for crimes against humanity and war crimes” — has thrown a fresh headache at Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer. And it’s just the latest example of the tightrope he’s walking on the Middle East.

When it came to office in a July landslide, Starmer’s government — which had faced pressure in the election from pro-Gaza independent candidates — swiftly dropped objections from his Tory predecessors to the ICC’s move. It banned some arms exports to Israel. And it restored funding to the UNRWA, the U.N. refugee agency heavily criticised by Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas.