Hungary to withdraw from ICC as Netanyahu visits

The Israeli leader makes his first trip to Europe since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him over the war in Gaza

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, left, with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu in Hungary on Thursday. Picture: Janos Kummer/Getty Images

Hungary said it would withdraw from the International Criminal Court, dealing another blow to an institution grappling with the fallout from its decision to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The move comes as Netanyahu arrived in Hungary on Wednesday for a state visit, the first time the Israeli leader has travelled to Europe since the court issued its warrant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the war in Gaza. The court sent a request Thursday morning to the Hungarian government to arrest Netanyahu, an ICC official said. But Prime Minister Viktor Orban has for months said Hungary wouldn’t comply with the warrant.

“The withdrawal process will begin on Thursday, in line with Hungary’s constitutional and international legal obligations,” said Zoltan Kovacs, a spokesman for Orban.

“The Court recalls that Hungary remains under a duty to co-operate with the ICC,” said ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah.

The decision to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has shaken the ICC’s support among its member countries and fuelled doubts about the court’s authority. The ICC is facing Israel’s staunch backing from the Trump administration. Some European governments that have long been the ICC’s strongest supporters — including France and Italy — have suggested they wouldn’t comply with a request to arrest Netanyahu.

Orban has openly defied the court over the Netanyahu warrant, and others in Europe have recently joined him. In February, Frederich Merz, Germany’s likely next chancellor, invited Netanyahu to visit, saying Germany would find a way around the ICC warrant. “I think it is a completely absurd idea that an Israeli prime minister cannot visit the Federal Republic of Germany,” Merz said.

Europe’s wavering support comes on top of sanctions imposed by the Trump administration against Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, for seeking the warrants. The US has said it would target other ICC officials that work on the cases against Netanyahu and Gallant. The State Department is preparing a report due this month that will name them.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Hungary in defiance of the International Criminal Court (ICC)'s arrest warrant against him over alleged war crimes in Gaza. Picture: AFP

Hungary’s move is the first time that a European country has withdrawn from the ICC, a worrisome sign for the court in a region where almost all nations have signed the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty. The court, based in The Hague, relies on European governments for much of its funding and legitimacy. Other major powers — including the US, Russia, China and India — haven’t ratified the Rome Statute.

The ICC is the heir to the Nuremberg tribunals that prosecuted Nazis after World War II. American military prosecutors who brought the charges in Nuremberg championed the creation of a permanent institution that would try the most heinous violations of international law. The US signed the Rome Statute in 2000 but never ratified it.

For much of its first two decades, the ICC prosecuted African leaders and warlords who lacked global clout. But Khan, the current chief prosecutor, has brought the court into conflict with two superpowers, Russia and the US.

Starting in 2023, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials for crimes allegedly committed during the war in Ukraine. That move drew plaudits for Khan and the court from much of the West, including in Washington.

After the attack of Oct. 7, Khan said his office was examining crimes allegedly committed by Hamas during the attack, which killed more than 1,200 Israelis, and by Israel during its offensive in response. More than 50,000 people have been killed in Gaza during the war, according to Palestinian health authorities, who don’t say how many were combatants.

On May 20, Khan announced that he would seek warrants against the leaders of Hamas, Netanyahu and Gallant. His office accused the Israeli leaders of intentionally denying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip as a means of war. The Israeli government, Netanyahu and Gallant have denied the allegations.

ICC judges approved the warrants in November. That step, however, doesn’t mean they will be put on trial. The court must first confirm the charges, clearing a higher burden of proof.

Orban immediately invited Netanyahu to Hungary.

“The ICC ruling will have no effect in Hungary,” he said, “and we will not follow its contents.”

Wall Street Journal