It is not our custom to arrest guests, nor did we want to, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in response to Hungary’s failure to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in November last year for war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs wrote on the X network that Orban stressed that Hungary considers Israel a friend.
“Foreign policy is about making friends. It is good if Israel is a friend of Hungary, not an enemy,” Orban said.
Orban also stated that Hungary could not act on the ICC’s order because, as he claims, it has not incorporated the Rome Statute into its legal system.
“The Israeli prime minister was one thousand percent safe in Hungary,” he said.
Netanyahu arrived in Budapest yesterday for a visit, and Hungary announced its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court.
More than 50,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israeli attacks since October 2023, most of them women and children.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
