Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began visiting Hungary on Thursday, confident that Europe’s self-proclaimed bastion of “liberal democracy” would ignore the warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in November.
The visit was Mr. Netanyahu’s first country, which recognized the jurisdiction of the court, and at least theoretically, he could be arrested. He visited Washington and discussed the future of Gaza with President Trump in February, but like Israel, the United States never recognized the International Court of Justice.
In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government made it clear that it would ignore its obligations as a party to the 1998 court treaty.
Shortly after the court issued its arrest warrant, Mr. Oban invited Mr. Netanyahu to visit and assured him: “The judgment of the International Criminal Court will be invalid in Hungary and we will not comply with its terms.”
Hungary’s extensive propaganda machine tends to anti-Semitism in its uninterrupted insults by George Soros. It made him a huge global conspiracy supported by high finance and hidden internationalization.
But Mr. Oban, a staunch supporter of Israel, sees the country’s right-wing prime minister as a cordial spirit, with his own nationalist viewpoint and respect for national sovereignty without foreign intervention.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, which has dealt a blow to Israel’s global status.
For Mr. Netanyahu, Hungary’s visit provided him with an opportunity to project strength and politicians at home and abroad while opposing leaders from both Israel and abroad.
Through his trip to Europe, Mr. Netanyahu sent a signal to the world that he remained unaffected by a court warrant, although Israel’s war in Gaza was condemned by many European governments. He also sent a signal to Israeli critics that he retained his international status amidst an increasing domestic crisis, and despite the arrest of two of his aides, his international status remained as usual.
Amnesty International condemned the visit to Hungary as a “cynical effort to undermine the International Criminal Court and its work”, calling it “an insult to the victims of these crimes, who are seeking the Judicial Court.” It added that Hungary’s invitation “expresses contempt for international law”.
For Mr. Oban, who is isolated within the EU, welcoming the Israeli Prime Minister to ignore the International Court of Justice provides an opportunity to make himself in the spotlight and attract Washington’s attention. Since taking office in January, President Trump has had little interest in Hungary, even though he has been a admirer of Mr. Auban.
Like Mr. Netanyahu, Mr. Oban faces many domestic problems, including Hungary’s highest inflation rate in the EU and the country’s upstart opposition movement (led by former Oban loyalists) is supported.
Before the November election, Mr. Trump often praised Mr. Orban as a “great leader” but he did not invite him to the inauguration. Hungary said it was because no foreign leaders were invited, but several participated included Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a rival to Mr Orban, as he was the leader of Europe’s tough political forces.
Mr. Trump is a fierce critic of the court and signed an executive order in February that signed sanctions, vows, in the International Court of Justice, to impose “tangible and significant consequences” on those who are working to investigate threatening the national security of the United States and Israel.
Mr. Netanyahu condemned bribery, fraud and other charges in Israel as a judiciary’s efforts to derail the will of voters. Likewise, Mr. Orban often condemned the judicial over-claim of his view that the European Court of Justice against Hungary’s rulings in violation of EU rules.
“We have always opposed judicial activism,” Orban said at the European Leaders’ Summit in Budapest, the capital of Hungary.
Hungary ratified the treaty in 2001 to establish the International Criminal Court during Orban’s first Prime Minister, but its parliament never incorporated its provisions into the country’s domestic code of law.
Orban’s chief of staff Gergely Gulyas said last month that the omission exempted Hungary from any obligations of the court’s ruling. He said Hungary is considering evacuation from the court, but said no decision has been made.
Patrick Kingsley Contributed reports from Jerusalem.
