Hungary, an ICC founding member, is theoretically obliged to arrest Netanyahu, who arrived in Budapest on Wednesday on a state visit. But Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has dismissed the ruling as “brazen, cynical, and completely unacceptable.”
Budapest never fully incorporated the Rome Statute into its national law, and Orbán’s chief of staff said that, in practice, “no measure of the court can be carried out within Hungary.”
On Thursday, the Hungarian government announced it would formally begin the year-long process of leaving the ICC. A bill to that effect is expected to pass easily in a parliament dominated by Orbán’s Fidesz party. Officials in The Hague, where the ICC is based, maintain that Hungary must fulfill its treaty obligations until the withdrawal is complete.
Israel denies the ICC’s accusations—calling them political and antisemitic—and contends it was acting in self-defense during the conflict, sparked by an October 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people.
Palestinian health authorities say more than 50,000 Palestinians have died amid Israel’s subsequent offensive.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on the court’s chief prosecutor, leading Orbán to question Hungary’s continued membership in an “international organization that is under U.S. sanctions.”
(jh)
Source: Reuters, BBC, DW