Netanyahu defies international arrest warrant on visit to Hungary
Efforts to resume the truce have so far failed to yield results, with Israel blocking the flow of aid and goods into Gaza for more than a month now, marking the longest aid blockade since the war began.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other rights groups have all called on Hungary to uphold international law and detain Netanyahu upon his arrival in the country and transfer him the Hague in the Netherlands where the ICC is based.
Hungary is a member country of the court but it has never incorporated its terms into the country’s domestic legal code.
Shortly after Netanyahu’s arrival, Orbán’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, told state news agency MTI that the country would look to withdraw from the ICC, according to Reuters.
Neither Israel nor the U.S. recognize the jurisdiction of the world court, which has no staff to enforce its warrants and relies on law enforcement officials in member states to enforce them.
Despite close ties between Orbán and Netanyahu, the Hungarian leader has previously been accused of using antisemitic tropes to firm up his support at home.
In 2019, a government funded campaign vilified the Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist George Soros who is Jewish, prompting criticism from the European Union and anti-racism groups.
Four years later a billboard campaign featured the slogan, “Let’s not dance to their tune,” alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Soros’ son, Alex Soros.
