Israel's election has left the political future of Benjamin Netanyahu uncertain. If coalition talks end with him stepping down as prime minister, the international legal proceedings involving him and Israel would continue regardless of who leads the government.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024. The allegations concern war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including starvation as a method of warfare, murder and persecution. The warrant targets Netanyahu's alleged individual responsibility for conduct during his premiership, so it does not depend on him staying in office. Under Article 58(4) of the Rome Statute, a warrant stays in force unless the court orders otherwise, and ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said in September that no steps had been taken to withdraw it. A trial could only begin if Netanyahu were arrested and surrendered to the court.
Israel continues to dispute the court's jurisdiction, arguing mainly that it is not a party to the Rome Statute. In April 2025, the ICC Appeals Chamber told the Pre-Trial Chamber to examine that challenge but declined to suspend the warrants in the meantime. Two Israeli appeals remain pending.
The question of immunity is where a change in office would matter most. Before the ICC, being prime minister gives no protection, since Article 27 of the Rome Statute rejects official capacity as a bar to prosecution. The court has applied this to leaders of non-member states. In 2019 its Appeals Chamber ruled that Jordan should have arrested Sudan's then-president Omar al-Bashir, and in 2024 judges found Mongolia in breach for failing to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Even so, some member states have argued they need not detain a sitting leader of a non-member state. International law recognises personal immunity, which covers heads of state, heads of government and foreign ministers while in office and ends when they leave, and functional immunity, which covers official acts and continues afterward. Legal experts have told Middle East Eye that an exception for international crimes under functional immunity is increasingly well established. Netanyahu would keep only functional immunity once out of office.
Several governments have raised immunity already. France said in November 2024 that such immunities applied to Netanyahu, a claim rejected by immunity scholars and rights groups. Italy's foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, made a similar argument in January 2025. Hungary invoked an Article 98 immunity argument over its failure to arrest Netanyahu during his April 2025 visit, and the ICC later found Hungary had breached its cooperation obligations.
Departure from office would not guarantee an arrest, however. The ICC has no police force and relies on national authorities. A future Israeli government could choose to cooperate and surrender him, but Netanyahu might also simply avoid foreign travel. Losing personal immunity would also expose him to prosecution in national courts under universal jurisdiction. Turkey is already prosecuting him, along with ministers Israel Katz and Itamar Ben Gvir, over Israel's 2025 interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla. Precedents include Augusto Pinochet's 1998 arrest in London and a July 2025 French ruling that functional immunity does not shield former leaders from genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes charges.
South Africa's genocide case at the International Court of Justice, filed in December 2023, concerns the responsibility of the state rather than any individual, so a change of prime minister would not affect it. Israel submitted its counter-arguments in March 2026, including jurisdictional objections. South Africa has until 22 November 2027 to reply and Israel until 22 May 2029 to respond, so a final judgment is years away.
Netanyahu's corruption trial in Israel would also continue. He has been tried since 2020 on bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges in three cases and denies wrongdoing. He asked President Isaac Herzog for a pardon in November 2025 without admitting guilt. In April, Herzog's office said the sides should first seek an agreement outside court. Opposition leader Yair Lapid has said a pardon should not come unless Netanyahu admits guilt and leaves political life.
