The ICC’s Assembly of States Parties (ASP) has strongly called on member states to fulfill their obligations, especially in light of Hungary’s decision to withdraw from the ICC and receive the Israeli PM, reports Magyar Nemzet.
“It is essential that all states parties to the Rome Statute, which ensures the operation of the International Criminal Court (ICC), fulfill their obligation to not allow Benjamin Netanyahu into their territory without complying with the court’s decision to arrest and surrender the Israeli Prime Minister,” said ASP President Paivi Kaukoranta (ASP) in a letter to Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu on November 21 for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the Israeli prime minister between at least October 8, 2023, and May 20, 2024.
Kaukoranta said that “under article 86 of the Rome Statute, States Parties are obliged to cooperate fully with the Court in the investigation and prosecution of crimes within its jurisdiction. Under article 89, first paragraph, States Parties are specifically obliged to comply with arrest and surrender orders of the Court.”
Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, received Netanyahu yesterday, April 3, and announced Hungary would be leaving the ICC, accusing it of operating on a political basis.
“We will not support a court that targets democracies like Israel for political gain. Hungary defends the rule of law. Hungary stands with Israel,” Orbán said.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates is also urging Viktor Orbán to comply with international law and EU policy by honoring the ICC arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The Ministry believes that this reception, which coincides with the Israeli occupation’s escalation of its war of genocide, displacement, and annexation against our people, encourages Netanyahu and his government officials to continue committing crimes, undermine the path of international justice, and perpetuate the policy of impunity. The Ministry also deplores the press conference between the Hungarian Prime Minister and the occupying state’s disregard for the war of genocide, displacement, and annexation, as well as the rights of our people, which enjoy international consensus,” they posted on X.
They also reportedly sent a letter directly to Orbán demanding the immediate handover of Netanyahu: “We consider Netanyahu’s reception, for whom the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant, as a disrespect for international justice and international law, at the cost of the blood of our people and Palestinian civilians, including children, women, the elderly and the sick,” the letter states, according to Neokohn.hu.
الخارجية: استقبال رئيس وزراء المجر لنتنياهو استخفاف بمسار العدالة الدولية
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The #Hungarian Prime Minister’s reception of Netanyahu is a disregard for the course of international justice. pic.twitter.com/L9NkblBimB
— State of Palestine – MFA 
(@pmofa) April 3, 2025The ministry also posted video from the recent attack on a school in Gaza, stating, “The massacre at Dar Al-Arqam School against children and women requires holding war criminals accountable and providing international protection for our people.”
Meanwhile, Magyar Nemzet has also reported that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz indicated Germany would not arrest the Israeli PM were he to visit Germany.
Friedrich Merz, expected to be the next chancellor, also jumped on board, telling the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: It is inconceivable to me that the democratically elected Prime Minister of the State of Israel should not be allowed to visit Germany.
“We will find a way to continue to receive the Israeli Prime Minister in Germany, in line with international law,” he added.
In the meantime, Netanyahu has plenty of worries back home, including the ongoing Qatargate scandal and accusations he has helped Hamas remain in power, obstructing the probe into the Oct. 7 attacks, protests by Israelis angry that he is resuming the war without securing the remaining hostages, and allegations that he is attempting to move forward with his highly controversial judicial overhaul behind the scenes. Netanyahu says all of this is mere noise, calling the Qatar probe specifically a witch hunt to “topple a right-wing prime minister.”
