Here’s why neither Netanyahu nor Putin will be arrested in Hungary
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces an ICC arrest warrant, but Hungary won’t act on it. With the court’s statute not part of Hungarian law and Israel rejecting its jurisdiction, Netanyahu can visit Budapest without fear of arrest.
Israeli PM Netanyahu’s visit won’t be disrupted
Index writes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Hungary will not be affected by the arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in November 2024. The ICC accuses Netanyahu of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including the alleged use of starvation as a method of warfare and attacks on civilian targets.
However, while Hungary is a member of the ICC, it has not incorporated the court’s statute into its domestic law, meaning it is not legally obligated to enforce the warrant. Furthermore, Israel does not recognise the ICC’s jurisdiction and has dismissed the charges as politically motivated. This legal grey area allows Hungary to host Netanyahu without the risk of arrest.
About the ICC
The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established under the Rome Statute, adopted in 1998 and enforced in 2002. It has jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, war crimes, and acts of aggression. Still, it only intervenes if a country fails to prosecute such crimes domestically or if legal proceedings appear insubstantial. While 27 EU member states are part of the ICC, major global powers, including Israel, the United States, Russia, and China, have not ratified the treaty, rejecting the court’s authority. The ICC defines a wide range of crimes, with war crimes categorised based on whether conflicts are international or internal, listing 74 specific offences. As mentioned above, Netanyahu faces charges under these provisions.
Mixed reactions
The arrest warrant against Netanyahu has sparked a strong political backlash. Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg dismissed the move as absurd but admitted Austria would be obliged to act on the warrant if Netanyahu visited. Then-US President Joe Biden condemned the decision as outrageous, arguing that equating Israel’s leadership with Hamas was unjust. The Hungarian government swiftly rejected the ICC’s actions, calling them politically motivated and an abuse of international legal institutions. Reports suggest that shortly after the warrant was issued, Orbán instructed top ministers to assess the feasibility of Hungary withdrawing from the ICC altogether.
Putin won’t be arrested either
The Rome Statute has never even been officially published in Hungarian, as Index also points out. Since the Statute hasn’t been incorporated into domestic law, Hungary isn’t actually required to enforce ICC arrest warrants, including the one against Netanyahu. This became clear back in 2023 when Minister Gergely Gulyás explained that Hungary wouldn’t arrest Vladimir Putin:
In Hungary, they can enforce Hungarian law, which would prevent authorities from arresting the Russian President, because the ICC Statute has not been promulgated.
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