Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that the warrant, which was issued over allegations of war crimes in Gaza, ‘will not be observed.’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to travel to Hungary this week, his office confirmed on Sunday.
The trip comes in defiance of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over allegations of war crimes by Israel in its response to Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023.
During the five-day visit, scheduled to start on Wednesday and end on Sunday, Netanyahu will meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who invited him in November 2024, just days after the ICC issued the warrant.
Orban said at the time that the warrant would “not be observed” during the Israeli leader’s visit to the Central European country.
All European Union member states, including Hungary, are among the 124 nations that are signatories to the ICC, meaning they are required to enforce warrants issued by the court as per the Rome Statute of 1998.
There was no immediate comment by Hungary about this week’s visit.
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However, earlier this month, Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, told a news conference, where the impending visit by Netanyahu was being discussed, that he would “very much support” Hungary withdrawing from the ICC.
He argued it had “lost its meaning by conducting political instead of legal activities,” but added that the government in Budapest had not made any decision on the matter of continued Hungarian membership of the court.
Other EU states have also signaled that they would not comply with the warrant relating to Netanyahu.
Germany’s likely chancellor-to-be Friedrich Merz said after last month’s general election that he would find “ways and means” to have Netanyahu come to the country.
“I think it is a completely absurd idea that an Israeli prime minister cannot visit the Federal Republic of Germany,” Merz said in February.
Poland, too, said that it wouldn’t arrest Netanyahu if he chose to attend the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in January. However, in the end, Netanyahu did not make the trip.
Netanyahu’s visit to Hungry will be his second trip abroad since the ICC announced the warrants, following a visit to Washington in February to meet U.S. President Donald Trump.
Neither Israel nor the United States is a member of the court, and Washington has sanctioned the prosecutor who issued the warrant against Netanyahu, Karim A.A. Khan
On Nov. 21, Khan announced the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and then-Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who was fired by Netanyahu later that same month.
Khan said Netanyahu and Gallant committed “crimes against humanity and war crimes” between Oct. 8, 2023, and May 20, 2024, such as “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”
Israel has denounced the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, describing the allegations as “false and absurd.”
In his executive order announcing the sanctions against Khan, Trump stated: “The ICC’s recent actions against Israel and the United States set a dangerous precedent, directly endangering current and former United States personnel, including active service members of the Armed Forces, by exposing them to harassment, abuse, and possible arrest.
“This malign conduct in turn threatens to infringe upon the sovereignty of the United States and undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States Government and our allies, including Israel.”
The ICC also issued warrants for the arrest of several high-ranking Hamas officials, including Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh, for war crimes such as taking hostages and for crimes against humanity, including murder. All three are now dead.
The ICC has “Palestine” listed as a member of the court, despite its statehood not being recognised by many nations.
Reuters, The Associated Press, and Jackson Richman contributed to this report.
