Netanyahu meets in Hungary. How did he resolve his international arrest warrant?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to arrive in the Hungarian capital on Wednesday to meet the country’s prime minister, despite providing an international arrest warrant for Israeli leaders during the war in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu made a four-day visit to Budapest, which demonstrated his close ties with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the growing hostility to international institutions such as the International Criminal Court, whose country is a member of the institution.
Orbán of conservative populists and Netanyahu Ally vowed to ignore the ICC’s warrant for Israeli leaders, accusing the world’s top war crime court in The Hague, Netherlands, of “interfering in ongoing political conflict.”
Members of the Orban government suggested that Hungary become the signator of the court in 2001 and could withdraw it. Currently, all countries, composed of 27 members, including Hungary, are signatories and all members of the court must detain suspects if they step on the soil.
ICC relies on cooperation from member states
But the court itself did not enforce the arrest warrant, but relied on the cooperation of its 124 member states.
On Tuesday, rights group Human Rights Watch urged Hungary to reject Netanyahu’s entry or arrest him if he enters the country.
“Alban’s invitation to Netanyahu is an insult to victims of serious crimes,” said Liz Evenson, the judicial director of International Human Rights Watch, in a press release. “Hungary should abide by its legal obligations as an ICC party and arrest Netanyahu if he steps into the country.”
The International Criminal Court, the world’s only global permanent court for war crimes and genocide, issued an arrest warrant in November, as well as his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief, accusing them of being linked to the war in Gaza.
According to Israeli Tallies, Israel invaded Gaza after a devastating attack on southern Israel by an Israeli Hamas-led gunman on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and seeing 251 hostages taken, according to Israeli Soors.
According to Palestinian health officials, the Israeli movement killed more than 50,000 Palestinians. The war destroyed the Gaza Strip, forcing almost all of their houses to nearly 2.3 million.
“Hunger as a method of war”
The warrant says there is reason to believe that Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have adopted “hunger as a way of war” in Israel’s Gaza campaign against Hamas, an allegation by Israeli official Deny.
The International Criminal Court criticized Hungary for its decision to violate its warrant for Netanyahu. Fadi El Abdallah, a spokesman for the court, said the parties to the ICC were not “unilaterally determined the rationality of the court’s legal judgment.”
El Ebdallah told the Associated Press in an email that if the participating states are obliged to enforce the court’s ruling, they can consult the court if they do not agree to their ruling.
“Any dispute regarding the judicial function of the court shall be resolved through the court’s ruling,” El Abdallah said.
“Despise international law”
The two leaders also allied with U.S. President Donald Trump, who imposed sanctions on the ICC’s investigation into Israel in February.
Ramadan Ramadan says households who fasted during Ramadan have struggled with sales dropping and prices soaring after Israel created nearly a month of lockdown on goods entering Gaza.
Hungary must arrest, said in a statement [Netanyahu] If he goes to the country and hand him over to the court. ”
“The invitation from Hungary demonstrates contempt for international law and confirms the welcome of suspected war criminals requested by the International Criminal Court on the streets of EU member states.”
Evenson, with Human Rights Watch, said Hungary’s permission to visit Netanyahu was a breach of Hungary’s ICC obligations and “will be Orban’s latest attack on the rule of law, which adds to the country’s dismal record of rights.”
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin to charge him of his personal responsibility for the kidnapping of children from Ukraine.
Putin visited Mongolia, a member of the International Criminal Court, in September last year, but he was not arrested. Last year, the judge found Mongolia failed to comply with its legal obligations and handed the matter over to the court’s supervisory body.
