Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban chat as they attend a signing ceremony in the Parliament building in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, July 18, 2017. (Balazs Mohai/MTI via AP)
(Tribune News Service) — Hungary announced its exit from the International Criminal Court as Prime Minister Viktor Orban hosted Benjamin Netanyahu in Budapest, ignoring an arrest warrant for the Israeli leader.
Calling the Hague-based institution a “political court,” Orban said his government will immediately submit legislation to withdraw from the ICC. Speaking alongside Orban in the Hungarian capital, Netanyahu lauded the decision to “leave this corrupt organization.”
“I hope many will follow,” the Israeli premier told reporters on Thursday.
Netanyahu is making his first foreign trip outside the U.S. since the October 2023 attack by Hamas that triggered the war in Gaza, selecting in Orban a fellow right-wing ally of U.S. President Donald Trump as his host. All three leaders have condemned the ICC ruling in November that Netanyahu be detained for alleged war crimes.
Hungary is a signatory to the ICC’s founding charter, meaning that it would have been obliged to detain Netanyahu on arrival. But Orban has dismissed the order from the outset, immediately inviting his Israeli counterpart for an official visit with a guarantee that he would not be arrested.
The ICC declined to comment. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar welcomed Hungary’s decision, which he said demonstrated its stance in support of Israel, according to a post on X. The decision was reported earlier this week by Radio Free Europe.
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said the ICC host nation “deeply regrets” Hungary’s decision, noting that the withdrawal process would take about a year.
“Until then, Hungary will have to comply with the obligations that come with being a member,” Veldkamp told reporters in Brussels.
The international tribunal issued the arrest warrant in response to Netanyahu’s handling of the conflict with Hamas, saying he needs to account for “crimes against humanity and war crimes.”
The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel in October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 250. Israel’s subsequent campaign in Gaza has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the territory, while devastating urban areas and displacing much of the 2.2 million population.
Like the U.S., Israel isn’t an ICC signatory and argues that the court has no jurisdiction over the country because it has an independent judiciary capable of its own investigations into allegations of war crimes. The ICC says Israel has turned a blind eye to the killing of civilians in Gaza, requiring intervention, something Israel denies.
With assistance from Sarah Jacob, Alisa Odenheimer, Patrick Van Oosterom and Andras Gergely.
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