Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz has confirmed inviting Benjamin Netanyahu for a visit, despite an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against the Israeli PM for alleged war crimes, Al Jazeera reports.

“I think it is a completely absurd idea that an Israeli prime minister cannot visit the Federal Republic of Germany,” Merz said at a news conference a day after his conservatives won the largest share of the vote in a national election.

He said he had told Netanyahu by phone “that we would find ways and means for him to visit Germany and leave again without being arrested”.

EU countries including Germany are signatories of the founding treaty of the court, which requires members to arrest its suspects on their territory.