Defying ICC, Netanyahu flies to Hungary, which is expected to quit court during visit
Trump ally Viktor Orban has vowed not to act on international arrest order against Israeli leader, who is expected to meet unnamed foreign official during days-long visit
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelled to Hungary late Wednesday evening, defying an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him.
Netanyahu and his wife Sara touched down early Thursday morning in Budapest, where they were received by a military honor guard before being ushered by a convoy to their hotel without incident.
It is Netanyahu’s first trip to Europe since the ICC last year issued an arrest warrant against him for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip, meaning that countries party to the Rome Statute — which, for now, include Hungary — would be obliged to take him into custody.
Hungary is expected to announce during Netanyahu’s visit that it is withdrawing from the ICC, The Times of Israel has learned.
Netanyahu, who took off from Ben Gurion International Airport on the official Wing of Zion plane, is slated to meet Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and President Tamás Sulyok on Thursday.
A stage is being put together in Buda Castle, where Orban will welcome Netanyahu in a ceremony with military honors on Thursday morning.
As he commonly does, Netanyahu is scheduled to remain abroad over Shabbat, along with his entourage and security detail, at taxpayer expense.
Orban in November rejected the ICC decision to seek Netanyahu’s arrest and invited him to make an official visit without the fear of being detained.
The Israeli leader has long had close relations with Orban, who has been in power since 2010.
Though the ICC issue is sure to grab headlines, broader diplomatic topics are sure to be discussed.
Orban is a longtime supporter of US President Donald Trump, and backs his ceasefire efforts in Ukraine. The Hungarian premier, who remains in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin — out of step with the European Union on Russia — has vetoed EU punitive measures against Moscow.
But with Europe scrambling to develop its own aid packages for Ukraine and defense capabilities independent of the US, Orban offers Trump an ally in the EU and NATO.
Israel, too, has maintained diplomatic ties and channels of communication with Russia since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Hungary is also a core member of the firmly pro-Israel bloc in the EU, which makes foreign policy decisions based on the consensus of all 27 member states.
A foreign official from a third country will be in Hungary to meet Netanyahu as well, an Israeli source told The Times of Israel, without elaborating.
Hungary has been vocal of late about protecting Christians in Lebanon and Syria.
On Tuesday, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó met in Budapest with Gebran Bassil, head of Lebanon’s Christian Free Patriotic Movement, and stressed his country’s support for the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel.
“If that ceasefire is shaken, it would entail extreme hardships for Christian communities in Lebanon and its region,” said Szijjártó.
ICC enforcement
Neither Israel nor the United States are party to the Hague court, and the arrest warrant has no enforcement mechanism, with the ICC instead relying on cooperation from its member states. ICC member countries are required to act on the court’s arrest warrants, but have not always done so.
In the wake of the warrants, a number of countries said they would not arrest Netanyahu were he to visit, including Hungary, Argentina, the Czech Republic and Romania.
Poland said it would seek to shield him from arrest, while France and Italy said they believed he had immunity, as a world leader from a state not party to the ICC.
Landlocked Hungary is surrounded by Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria. According to a December Euronews report, Slovenia and Austria have both indicated they would enforce the arrest warrant.
The Times of Israel Community.