BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to arrive in Hungary’s capital on Wednesday to meet with the country’s nationalist prime minister despite an international arrest warrant for the Israeli leader over the war in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu’s four-day visit to Budapest is a sign of both his close relationship with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the latter’s growing hostility toward international institutions, like the International Criminal Court, of which his country is a member.
Orbán, a conservative populist and close Netanyahu ally, has vowed to disregard the ICC warrant against the Israeli leader, accusing the world’s top war crimes court based in The Hague, Netherlands, of “interfering in an ongoing conflict for political purposes.”
Members of Orbán’s government have suggested that Hungary, which became a signatory to the court in 2001, could withdraw. Currently, all countries in the 27-member European Union, including Hungary, are signatories, and all members of the court are required to detain suspects facing a warrant if they set foot on their soil.
The ICC, the world’s only permanent global tribunal for war crimes and genocide, issued the arrest warrant in November for Netanyahu as well as for his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with the war in Gaza after the Hamas attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians, including children, have been killed during the Israeli military’s response.
The warrants said there was reason to believe Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid, and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges that Israeli officials deny.
The ICC has criticized Hungary’s decision to defy its warrant for Netanyahu. The court’s spokesperson, Fadi El Abdallah, said that it’s not for parties to the ICC “to unilaterally determine the soundness of the Court’s legal decisions.”
Participating states have an obligation to enforce the court’s decisions, El Ebdallah told The Associated Press in an email, and may consult with the court if they disagree with its rulings.
“Any dispute concerning the judicial functions of the Court shall be settled by the decision of the Court,” El Abdallah said.
Orbán, who has been the EU’s most intransigent spoiler in the bloc’s decision-making, is seen as a pioneer of some of the same tactics that Netanyahu has been accused of employing in Israel: subjugation of the judiciary, antagonism toward the European Union and cracking down on civil society and human rights groups.
Longtime allies and fellow practitioners of “illiberal” governance — a term adopted by Orbán that denotes a rejection of the tenets of liberal democracy — the two leaders are also allied with U.S. President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order in February imposing sanctions on the ICC over its investigations of Israel.
Orbán’s government has said that Trump’s return to the White House has enabled it to take measures it was unable to during the administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden — such as passing legislation to ban LGBTQ+ Pride events in Hungary.
Erika Guevara-Rosas, the head of Global Research, Advocacy and Policy of human rights group Amnesty International, said in a statement that Hungary “must arrest (Netanyahu) if he travels to the country and hand him over to the Court.”
“Hungary’s invitation shows contempt for international law and confirms that alleged war criminals wanted by the ICC are welcome on the streets of a European Union member state,” Guevara-Rosas said.
Liz Evenson, international justice director at rights group Human Rights Watch, said that Hungary allowing Netanyahu’s visit was a breach of Hungary’s ICC obligations, and “would be Orban’s latest assault on the rule of law, adding to the country’s dismal record on rights.”
“All ICC member countries need to make clear they expect Hungary to abide by its obligations to the court, and that they will do the same,” Evenson said.
In March 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine. Putin visited Mongolia, which is also a member of the ICC, in September last year, but he wasn’t arrested. Last year, judges found that the country failed to uphold its legal obligations and referred the matter to the court’s oversight body.
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Molly Quell contributed to this report from Amsterdam.
