The Foreign Ministry did not say outright that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel would be free to travel to France, but it argued that an I.C.C. rule on immunity may apply to him.

On Wednesday, Paris argued that 'immunities apply' to the Israeli prime minister. The French statement, which undermines the Court's authority, outraged human rights defenders.

The French Foreign Ministry suggested that Netanyahu may have immunity from arrest because Israel isn’t a signatory to the court’s founding treaty.