BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Friday condemned the International Criminal Court's issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he would invite him to Hungary. He said he would protest.
In comments on state radio, Prime Minister Orbán accused the ICC, the world's top war crimes tribunal, based in The Hague, of “intervening in the ongoing conflict for political purposes” and accused Netanyahu of issuing the warrant. He said the decision was a decision to issue a warrant for Prime Minister Netanyahu's actions. The war in Gaza undermined international law and increased tensions.
ICC member states such as Hungary are required to detain suspects with warrants if they set foot on their soil, but courts have no means to enforce this.
The ICC on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas military commanders on charges of crimes against humanity related to the 13-month war in Gaza.
The warrant states that Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant used “starvation as a means of war” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeting civilians in Israel's operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. There is said to be reason to believe that he was exploited, but Israeli officials deny the charge.
Prime Minister Orban, a close ally of Netanyahu, called the arrest warrant “outrageously brazen” and “cynical” in comments on Friday. He said late Friday that he would invite Netanyahu to Hungary and vowed to ignore the warrant if the invitation was accepted.
“We will fight against this decision, but it will not affect him,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has previously criticized the ICC's warrant as “unreasonable”.
Israel and its biggest ally, the United States, are not members of the court. But other Israel's allies, including some of its closest friends in Europe, are put in an awkward position by the warrant. Several countries, including France, welcomed the court's decision and suggested they could arrest Netanyahu if he visits.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden's administration is “deeply concerned by the rush by prosecutors to seek arrest warrants and the troubling procedural errors that led to this decision.” Ta.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday praised Hungary's stance on the warrant, saying in a statement: “Hungary joins our friends in the United States in the shameful weakness of those who supported the outrageous decision against the Israeli state's right to self-defense.” The nation has shown moral clarity and defended justice and truth. . ”
The ICC action comes as the death toll from Israeli operations in Gaza has exceeded 44,000, with more than half of the dead being women and children, local health authorities said. Their numbers do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
