Netanyahu in Budapest in spite of war crimes warrant as Hungary withdraws from the ICC

LAST UPDATE | 18 hrs ago

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Budapest this morning following an invitation from Hungary’s Premier Victor Orban, despite an outstanding warrant for his arrest from the International Criminal Court.  

It is Netanyahu’s first visit to Europe since 2023 and Orban has promised not to arrest Netanyahu, who is wanted for war crimes allegedly committed during Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip in Palestine, which has killed more than 50,000 people and reduced most of the territory to rubble. 

Netanyahu was greeted with full military honours in the Castle District of the capital city, where he stood alongside Orban as a military band played and processions of soldiers on horseback and carrying swords and bayoneted rifles passed by.

Netanyahu will spend several days in Hungary before departing on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Hungary has today announced its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“Hungary exits the International Criminal Court,” Orban’s chief of staff Gergely Gulyas posted on Facebook.

“The government will initiate the withdrawal procedure on Thursday, in accordance with the constitutional and international legal framework,” he added.

Netanyahu’s office said he and his Hungarian counterpart spoke with US President Donald Trump today regarding Hungary’s decision to quit the ICC.

“The discussion centred on Hungary’s decision to leave the International Criminal Court and the next steps that can be taken on this issue,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Tánaiste Simon Harris has said he “deeply regrets the decision by Hungary to withdraw from the ICC”. 

“It is particularly disappointing that an EU Member State would take such a step,” said Harris.

He remarked that the EU is founded on values which all Member States are obligated to uphold and defend, which includes support for the application of international law. 

Harris described the ICC as the cornerstone of the international system of criminal justice and said that Ireland has consistently called on all States to respect its independence and impartiality.

“Ireland will continue to work with our international partners, including within the EU, to support the ICC in fulfilling its mandate,” said Harris.

The governing body of the ICC said any departure harmed a “shared quest for justice.”

“When a State Party withdraws from the Rome Statute (that established the ICC), it clouds our shared quest for justice and weakens our resolve to fight impunity,” the presidency of the Assembly of State Parties said in a statement.

The court is “at the centre of the global commitment to accountability” and the international community should “support it without reservation”, the statement added.

Advertisement

The governing body also extended an olive branch to Hungary and “strongly encouraged Hungary to have a meaningful discussion”.

Arrest warrants

In May of last year, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his then defence minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders who have since been killed. 

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said at the time that the charges against Netanyahu included “causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies” and “deliberately targeting civilians in conflict”.

Khan said that Israel has “intentionally and systemically deprived the civilian population in all parts of Gaza of objects indispensable to human survival”. 

The State of Israel also stands accused of genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza in a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) brought by South Africa. 

While the ICC deals with individuals, the ICJ – the top UN court – deals with disputes between states. Both are based in The Hague, Netherlands. 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban extended an invitation to Netanyahu last November, a day after the ICC issued the arrest warrant, saying the court’s decision “intervenes in an ongoing conflict… for political purposes”.

After Orban invited him, Netanyahu responded by thanking his counterpart for showing “moral clarity”.

“Welcome to Budapest, Benjamin Netanyahu!” wrote Hungary’s Defence Minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky on Facebook as Netanyahu began his visit, and after greeting him at the airport in Budapest.

Signatories to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, are legally obligated to arrest people wanted by the court. 

Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz has promised to make sure Netanyahu can visit the country, and there have been other recent examples of states disregarding their obligations to arrest people wanted by the ICC. 

Mongolia ignored an ICC warrant last year when it welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin for a state visit.

Putin is accused of war crimes for the alleged illegal deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022.

ICC spokesman Fadi El-Abdallah said “it is not for states to unilaterally determine the soundness of the court’s legal decisions”. 

Hungary signed the Rome Statute in 1999 and ratified it two years later during Orban’s first term in office.

The ICC, set up in 2002, has no police of its own and relies on the cooperation of its 125 member states to carry out any arrest warrants.

However, Budapest has not put the legally affirmed the associated convention for constitutional reasons and therefore asserts it is not obliged to comply with the decisions of the ICC.

Hungary has also repeatedly floated the idea of leaving the ICC – like Burundi and the Philippines - and has already decided to do so, Radio Free Europe reported yesterday, citing diplomatic sources.

Netanyahu’s trip comes as he faces increasing pressure over his government’s attempts to replace both the domestic security chief and attorney general, while expanding the power of politicians over the appointment of judges.

The Israeli prime minister also testified in a probe involving alleged payments from Qatar to some of his senior staff after two of his aides were arrested.

With reporting from AFP and Press Association 

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Learn More Support The Journal