Slovenia Gave A Powerful Speech At The UN Against Genocide And Then Banned Netanyahu From The Country

Slovenia has become the first country in the world to ban Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu from entering the country over his arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Netanyahu and Israel’s former defense minister Yoav Gallant have been wanted by the ICC since November 2024 for war crimes and crimes against humanity over Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

On Thursday, Sept. 25, the Slovenian government announced it was sanctioning Netanyahu, as it already did by banning far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich in July.

It said on X that its decision aims to send “a clear message to the State of Israel that Slovenia expects consistent implementation of decisions issued by international tribunals and respect of [International Humanitarian Law].”

The move came two days after Slovenia’s first woman president, Nataša Pirc Musar, delivered a powerful speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 23 about the collapse of international law and justice.

Musar said the UN Security Council (UNSC) “is failing to meet the expectations of the world — if it ever has”, with members of the permanent five countries working in their own interests instead of collective security.

She said some states were putting the ICC to “its greatest challenge ever”, with its prosecutors and judges facing sanctions and intimidation for ensuring justice and international law, while the Genocide Convention risked becoming a relic of the past.

“If we, the leaders of this planet, can offer nothing but terror, conflict, pollution, fear, inequalities and war to eight billion people, then we must confront the truth: We are complicit in crimes against our civilization and our planet,” she said.

She called on world leaders to act to uphold humanity, sustainable development and international law.

“We did not stop the Holocaust. We did not stop the genocide in Rwanda. We did not stop the genocide in Srebrenica. We must stop the genocide in Gaza. There are no excuses anymore,” she said.

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