The Conservatives have called on Sir Keir Starmer to reject an international arrest warrant issued for Benjamin Netanyahu as they accused the Government of holding a “nonsensical” position on the issue.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel and shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick claimed the decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) had “no proper basis in international law”.

They said the UK’s refusal to explicitly say whether or not the Israeli premier would be detained if he arrived in the country “opens the farcical spectre of your Government trying to sanction the arrest” of an ally to Britain.

Criticising the ICC warrant, the shadow ministers said: “It is hard to escape the conclusion this is an activist decision, motivated by politics and not the law.”

They argued the court was established to pursue cases in instances where countries do not have robust and independent judiciaries, which could not be said of Israel.

“The UK Government’s response to the decision has been nonsensical,” they said.

“On Friday, the Home Secretary refused to say whether Mr Netanyahu would be detained if he travelled to the UK.

“This opens the farcical spectre of your Government trying to sanction the arrest on UK soil of the leader of an ally of the UK, while you continue a diplomatic charm offensive with the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping.

“It falls to you to clarify the Government’s position – now. The Government must make clear that it does not support an arrest warrant being issued which has no proper basis in international law.”

Downing Street on Friday indicated that Mr Netanyahu could face arrest if he entered the UK, refusing to comment on “hypotheticals” but saying Britain would always follow its “legal obligations”.

The International Criminal Court Act 2001 states that a Secretary of State must, on receipt of a request for arrest from the ICC, “transmit the request and the documents accompanying it to an appropriate judicial officer”.

Asked whether the UK would comply with requirements under the Act, Sir Keir’s spokesman said: “Yes, the Government would fulfil its obligations under the Act and indeed its legal obligations.”

The ICC has issued a warrant for Mr Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

It is important that we have a dialogue with Israel at all levels to reach the ceasefire that we all want to see, to bring an end to the violence, to protect civilians and ensure the release of hostages

Number 10 previously said the domestic process linked to ICC arrest warrants has never been used to date by the UK because no-one wanted by the international court had visited the country.

It added that Israel remained a “key partner across a range of areas”.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It is important that we have a dialogue with Israel at all levels to reach the ceasefire that we all want to see, to bring an end to the violence, to protect civilians and ensure the release of hostages.”

The ICC also issued a warrant for Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’s armed wing, over the October 7 2023 attacks that triggered Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

A domestic court process would be required before Mr Netanyahu faced arrest if he set foot in the UK.

The ICC said there are “reasonable grounds to believe” Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant were responsible for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts”.

The court’s pre-trial chamber also found “reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant each bear criminal responsibility as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population”.

The impact of the warrants is likely to be limited since Israel and its major ally, the US, are not members of the ICC.