Hungary will withdraw from the International Criminal Court, the body that issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant last year.
The announcement preceded Netanyahu’s arrival in Budapest for a state visit, which comes as he faces multiple scandals at home and as Israel ramps up fighting in Gaza. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is a doyen of the European populist right and a longtime Netanyahu ally.
Netanyahu’s trip to the United States last month was designed to bring Netanyahu together with President Donald Trump and to shore up support for Israel’s prosecution of its war in Gaza, and saw Trump pledge to take over the Gaza Strip and remove its Palestinian residents — promises that have recently gone unmentioned. Netanyahu’s visit to Hungary demonstrates that he is able to travel abroad despite the ICC warrant against him, issued over his alleged war conduct. The United States is not party to the ICC.
Hungary had already pledged not to arrest Netanyahu if he traveled to the country. Several other countries that are party to the ICC and ideological allies with Netanyahu have made the same pledge, as have the moderate leaders of other countries, including France, who argue that the warrants are invalid because Israel is not an ICC member.
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