French President
Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday gave a lukewarm reception to an
Israeli request to criticize the International Criminal Court, saying he would study the matter.
Macron's response dealt a setback to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hopes for a strong backlash against the ICC by world leaders gathering in Jerusalem for a memorial service marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.
The court's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said last month that there was a “reasonable basis” to open a war crimes probe into Israeli military actions in
Gaza as well as settlement construction in the West Bank.