Hungary
invites Netanyahu to visit as world leaders split over ICC arrest warrant
Viktor Orbán
says he will not enforce ICC decision that requires court members to detain
Israeli PM if he enters their country
Jon Henley
Fri 22 Nov
2024 13.54 GMT
Hungary’s
illiberal prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said he will invite his Israeli
counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, to visit in defiance of an international
criminal court arrest warrant, as world leaders split over the ICC’s momentous
decision.
The world’s
highest criminal court issued warrants on Thursday for Netanyahu, his former
defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas commander Ibrahim al-Masri,
commonly known as Mohammed Deif, who is believed to be dead, for alleged war
crimes and crimes against humanity.
Orbán, whose
country holds the rotating EU presidency and who has previously said he would
not arrest the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who is also wanted by the
ICC, called the court’s decision “outrageously brazen” and “cynical”.
“There is no
choice here, we have to defy this decision … I will guarantee Mr Netanyahu, if
he comes, that the judgment will have no effect in Hungary and that we will not
follow its terms,” he said on Friday.
Nations are
divided over how to respond to the arrest warrants, the first ever issued by
the ICC against leaders of a democratic country.
Analysts at
Eurointelligence said: “For us Europeans, this warrant exposes a real dilemma
between international law, which is our law, and our foreign policy, especially
for those member states that are unconditionally backing Israel.”
In
principle, Netanyahu and Gallant would risk arrest if they go to any of the 124
states that are members of the ICC, including the EU nations, the UK, Canada,
Australia, Brazil, Japan and dozens of African, Latin American and Asia-Pacific
countries.
The reality,
however, is different – and Netanyahu and Gallant also remain free to travel to
any of the countries that, like Israel, are not signatories to the Rome statute
that established the court in 1998, including the US, China, India and Russia.
Netanyahu
has denounced the warrants as antisemitic and the ICC’s accusations as “absurd
and false”, while Israel’s staunchest ally, the US, said it “fundamentally
rejects” the decision and was “deeply concerned” by “process errors” that it
said had led to it.
Beijing did
not criticise the arrest warrants directly but its foreign ministry
spokesperson, Lin Jian, said on Friday that it “hopes the court will … uphold
an objective and just position and exercise its powers in accordance with the
law”.
Hungary
signed and ratified the Rome statute during Orbán’s first term in office but it
has not promulgated the associated convention for reasons of constitutionality
and therefore asserts that it is not obliged to comply with ICC decisions.
Netanyahu
thanked Orbàn for his “moral clarity”, adding: “Faced with the shameful
weakness of those who stood by the outrageous decision against the right of the
state of Israel to defend itself, Hungary [is] standing by the side of justice
and truth.”
The outgoing
EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has said the court’s decisions must be
binding. “It is not a political decision,” he said on Thursday. “It is a
decision of a court, of an international court of justice. And the decision of
the court has to be respected and implemented.”
Some EU
member states were quick to say they would comply. Spain, long one of the
bloc’s most persistent and outspoken critics of Israel’s war in Gaza, confirmed
on Friday that Netanyahu would be arrested if he travelled there.
Alongside
Ireland and Norway, Spain has officially recognised a Palestinian state. The
Spanish labour minister, Yolanda Díaz, said on Thursday that Madrid was “always
on the side of justice and international law … The genocide of the Palestinian
people cannot go unpunished.”
A source in
Spain’s foreign ministry said on Friday: “Spain respects the decision of the
international criminal court and will fulfil its commitments and obligations
with regard to the Rome statute and international law.”
Ireland’s
prime minister, Simon Harris, said in a statement on Thursday that “Ireland
respects the role of the international criminal court. Anyone in a position to
assist it in carrying out its vital work must now do so with urgency.”
Asked on
Friday whether Ireland would arrest Netanyahu – who became the first Israeli
prime minister to visit the country in 1996 – if he returned, Harris said:
“Yes, absolutely. We support international courts and we apply their warrants.”
The
Netherlands’ foreign minister, Caspar Veldkamp, confirmed to the Dutch
parliament on Thursday that the country would “in principle” act on the
warrants should the situation arise. He cancelled a scheduled visit to Israel
on Friday.
Italy’s
defence minister, Guido Crosetto, said on Friday that while Rome considered the
ICC decision to be “wrong” in putting “on the same level” the leaders of “a
criminal terrorist organisation” and those of country “trying to eradicate” it,
Italy would be obliged to arrest the Israeli politicians if they visited.
“By joining
the court, we must apply its judgments, it is part of the treaty,” Crosetto
said. “Every state that joins would be obliged – the only way to not apply it
would be to withdraw from the treaty.”
Switzerland,
Finland and Portugal have all said they would execute the warrants. However,
Norway and several EU member states including France and Germany have been
non-committal, saying they respect international law but not confirming they
would act.
A French
foreign ministry spokesperson, Christophe Lemoine, said on Thursday that Paris
would react “in line with ICC statutes”. But Lemoine declined to say whether
France would arrest the Israeli leaders if they came to the country, saying it
was “a point that is legally complex”.
Germany’s
foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said Berlin was examining the warrants.
Baerbock said Berlin was “bound by” the court as a country that recognises the
body and respects international law, but the question of whether or not
Netanyahu and Gallant would be arrested was “theoretical” for the time being.
A
spokesperson for the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, said the UK
“respects the independence of the ICC” but there was “no moral equivalence
between Israel, a democracy, and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, which are
terrorist organisations”. The spokesperson did not say whether Britain would
execute the warrants.
Outside
Europe, the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said Canada, a founding
ICC member, “has always said it’s really important that everyone abide by
international law … We stand up for international law, and we will abide by all
the regulations and rulings of the international courts.”
Turkey said
the ICC’s decision was “a belated but positive decision to stop the bloodshed
and put an end to the genocide in Palestine”, while South Africa, which has
accused Israel of genocide in Gaza at the international court of justice, said
it was “a significant step towards justice for crimes against humanity and war
crimes in Palestine”.
Argentina’s
prime minister, Javier Milei, an outspoken Netanyahu ally, described the
warrants as “an act that distorts the spirit of international justice”, adding:
“This resolution ignores Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself against
constant attacks by terrorist organisations such as Hamas and Hezbollah.”
Additional
reporting by Lorenzo Tondo and Sam Jones
This article was amended on 23 November 2024.
An earlier version said South Africa, had accused Israel of genocide in Gaza
“at the ICC”; we meant the ICJ (international court of justice).
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