Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday that Canada will enforce the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if the Israeli leader travels to Canadian territory — a declaration that fuses Ottawa’s recent diplomatic shift with months of grassroots pressure.

In a Bloomberg interview, Carney responded “yes” when asked whether Canada would honor the ICC order and said, “If he enters Canada, he will be arrested in accordance with the order of the International Criminal Court.”

The ICC issued warrants in November 2024 charging Netanyahu and former war minister Yoav Gallant with war crimes and crimes against humanity related to Israel’s campaign in Gaza; judges rejected Israel’s bid to suspend those warrants earlier this month.

Carney’s stance follows Ottawa’s formal recognition of a Palestinian state in September — a move the government framed as necessary to preserve a two-state horizon. It also came in response to mounting international concern over civilian suffering in Gaza, where Palestinian authorities and international monitors report more than 68,000 killed and widespread devastation. A U.N. commission has since determined that Israel’s actions amount to genocide, alongside other grave breaches of international law.

Carney explained the decision by stating that Israel has been “methodically working to prevent the prospect of a Palestinian state from ever being established” through illegal settlement expansion and actions contributing to a “devastating and preventable famine” in Gaza.

That diplomatic shift has been driven in part by sustained pro-Palestine activism: campus encampments, mass marches, and high-profile demonstrations from Montreal to Toronto elevated demands for accountability, divestment, and an end to arms transfers to Israel, pressing policymakers to translate protest energy into policy.

Supporters of Ottawa’s decision say it aligns Canadian law with international justice and offers a measure of accountability for Gazans who have endured catastrophic loss.