The UK has been warned it could face US reprisals for helping enforce an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for the Israeli Prime Minister.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper reiterated that Britain ‘respects the independence’ of the ICC after the dramatic action against Benjamin Netanyahu and his ex-defence minister Yoav Gallant.

WILL NETANYAHU BE ARRESTED?

The position raises the prospect that Mr Netanyahu could be arrested for war crimes if he steps on UK territory – although ministers have been desperately trying to avoid saying so explicitly. 

Issuing warrants for the Israeli politicians over the Gaza conflict – at the same time as a Hamas leader already believed to have been killed – has sparked fury at the court drawing moral equivalence between legitimate national leaders and terrorists.

And the backlash has been huge in the US, where Donald Trump is due to take power in less than two months.

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THE WARNING

Senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham warned last night that the US would not ‘let the world believe for a moment that this is a legitimate exercise of jurisdiction by the Court against Israel because to do so means we could be next’. 

‘I will be introducing legislation that puts other countries on notice – If you aid and abet the ICC after their action against the State of Israel, you can expect consequences from the United States,’ he said. 

‘Any nation that joins with the ICC after this outrage is a partner in a reckless act that tramples the rule of law.’