PARIS (Reuters) -France said on Wednesday it believed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had immunity to actions by the International Criminal Court which is seeking his arrest for alleged war crimes in Gaza, given Israel has not signed up to the court statutes.

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

France caused a stir by declaring that the Israeli leader enjoyed “immunity” from the ICC arrest warrant. It's a legal statement, but also a highly political one, as Israel has threatened to remove France from the Lebanese Ceasefire Monitoring Committee.