Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hungary after the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague issued an arrest warrant against him for war crimes and genocide. Orbán says he would guarantee Netanyahu’s safety if he should arrive in Hungary.
“Now, it is one thing that it is an outrageously brazen — I would say cynical — decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to intervene in an ongoing conflict, because it has not been concluded in the Middle East, in an ongoing conflict, disguised as a legal conflict, but in fact for political purposes. This in itself is wrong, it is a complete discrediting of international law, but it can also add fuel to the fire,” said Orbán during an appearance on Kossuth Radio.
The Hungarian prime minister continued by saying: “So there is no choice but to face this decision head-on. So I will invite the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Netanyahu, to visit Hungary later today, and I will guarantee him in the invitation that if he comes, the International Criminal Court’s verdict will have no effect in Hungary, and we will not follow the terms of the verdict.”
Orbán said that behind his decision is his wish to maintain strong Israeli-Hungarian relations, which will enable the Israeli prime minister to conduct meaningful negotiations in Hungary with “sufficient security.”
On Thursday, the ICC panel unanimously decided to reject Israel’s appeal of the ICC’s jurisdiction, saying there are reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are criminally responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare. According to the ICC, there are reasonable grounds to believe that the civilian population of Gaza has been deliberately and knowingly deprived of food, water, medicine, medical care, fuel, and electricity.
Currently, the ICC’s 124 member states will be forced or obliged to arrest Netanyahu if he enters their territory. However, Hungary has already raised questions in the past about how it would respond to an ICC arrest warrant, as there is already one out for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“In Hungary, they can enforce the Hungarian legal order, they could not arrest the Russian president on this basis, because the ICC statute has not been promulgated,” said Hungarian official Gergely Gulyás regarding a potential arrest of Putin.
Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in Gaza since the war began. The ICC warrant could have grave implications for Israel, as numerous EU countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy have all said they will honor the warrant if Netanyahu steps on their territory.
