Hungary defies ICC, welcomes Netanyahu with full military honours
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed in Hungary in the early hours of Thursday morning for a four-day visit at the invitation of Hungarian premier Viktor Orban.
Sara and Benjamin Netanyahu greeted by Hungary’s Minister of Defence Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky
“Welcome to Budapest, #BenjaminNetanyahu!” Hungarian Defence Minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky posted to social media, greeting Netanyahu at the airport with full military honours.
Orban invited Netanyahu in November of last year, a day after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against the Israeli premier and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
Although Hungary is a signatory to the ICC and obliged to act on its warrants, Orban wrote in a Nov. 22 letter to Netanyahu that he was “shocked” by the court’s “shameful decision.”
He vowed it would have “no impact whatsoever on the Hungarian-Israeli alliance and friendship” and extended an invitation to Netanyahu, promising his country “will ensure your safety and freedom.”
The ICC has no enforcement arm of its own and relies on member states to carry out its warrants.
Orban told Hungarian public broadcaster Kossuth Radio that the ICC decision was “fundamentally wrong” and an “outrageously brazen” political decision that would lead to “the discrediting of international law,” The New York Times reported at the time.
The ICC issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least Oct. 8, 2023, until at least May 20, 2024, the day the prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest.
In a separate statement, the court ordered the arrest of Mohammed Deif, the supreme commander of Hamas’s military wing, who according to the Israel Defence Forces was killed in an airstrike on July 13.
Netanyahu wants to undermine the ICC’s decision by “flying to places where there’s no risk of arrest, and in doing so, he’s also paving the way to normalize his future travels,” Moshe Klughaft, an international strategic consultant and former advisor to Netanyahu, told AFP.
“His ultimate goal is to regain the ability to travel wherever he wants,” he said.
This is only the second international visit for Netanyahu since the ICC issued its warrants. In February, he visited the United States to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump.
On Feb. 6, Trump sanctioned the ICC via executive order for its arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant. The sanctions hit ICC officials, employees and their immediate family members with financial penalties and visa restrictions.
The ICC has initiated “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel,” the executive order stated.
The court’s “malign conduct” threatens “to infringe upon the sovereignty of the United States and undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States government and our allies, including Israel.”
Netanyahu will depart Hungary on Sunday.
JNS
