As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed in Hungary on Thursday for a four-day visit, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government announced the decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), the self-appointed tribunal that seeks the arrest of Israeli leaders over trumped up ‘war crime’ charges.
“Hungary will begin the process of withdrawing from the International Criminal Court on Thursday, Minister of the Chancellery Gergely Gulyas told the state news agency MTI,” Germany’s state-run DW TV reported Friday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Hungary for the “bold and principled” decision to pull out of the international kangaroo court. Hungary, a founding member of the ICC, will be the first European Union (EU) member country to leave the court.
Hungary’s decision comes in defiance of last year’s arrest warrant issued by the ICC against Prime Minister Netanyahu for overseeing Israel’s military response to Hamas’s October 7 massacre.
Reuters reported:
Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu applauded Hungary for its “bold and principled” decision to leave the International Criminal Court as he visited Budapest on Thursday, a rare trip abroad in defiance of an ICC arrest warrant.Netanyahu, invited by Hungary’s right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban, faces the ICC arrest warrant over allegations of war crimes in Gaza as Israel has expanded its military operation in the Palestinian enclave. (…)Hungary has rejected the idea of arresting the Israeli prime minister and has called the warrant “brazen.”In an announcement timed with Netanyahu’s visit on Thursday, Orban said Hungary would withdraw completely from the ICC, an organisation set up more than two decades ago to prosecute those accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.”This is no longer an impartial court, a rule-of-law court, but rather a political court. This has become the clearest in light of its decisions on Israel,” Orban said at a news conference with Netanyahu where they did not take questions.Netanyahu’s office said he and Orban spoke on Thursday with U.S. President Donald Trump about Hungary’s decision to withdraw from the ICC and discussed “the next steps that can be taken on this issue.”The ICC presidency expressed concern about Hungary’s decision, urging it in a letter to continue to be a resolute party to the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC, it said in a statement.
In November 2024, the self-styled world court issued ‘arrest warrants’ for Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for directing Israel’s military response after Hamas, on October 7, 2023, murdered nearly 1200 Israelis and kidnapped over 250 innocent men, women, and children.
The international court was set up under the framework of the 1998 Rome Statute and currently has 125 signatory member states. Despite initial good intentions, the court has turned rogues over the years — threatening to persecute Israeli and U.S. servicemen for taking part in military operations against terrorist groups.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock slammed Hungary for hosting the war-time Israeli leader in defiance of the ICC.
Baerbock, who’s party got booted out of the office in February 2025 election, belong to the outgoing coalition that declared its intention to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu in compliance with ICC ruling if he visited the country.
While most European countries have been silent on the matter, Germany’s incoming government and Poland have announced their decision to ignore the ICC warrant.
The Times of Israel reported:
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock decries the visit by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Hungary despite an ICC arrest warrant.“This is a bad day for international criminal law,” Baerbock says at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.
Germany’s top envoy was joined by the Islamic terror group Hamas in condemnation.
“Hamas condemned Hungary’s decision, calling it ‘a slap in the face to the principle of international justice,” Canadian broadcaster CBC reported.
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