Netanyahu to travel to Hungary amidst crumbling legitimacy of ICC
Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Hungary to meet his Hungarian counterpart in the latest demonstration of the crumbling legitimacy of the ICC.
According to Reuters on March 30th, Netanyahu, wanted by the ICC for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, will fly to Hungary to meet Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who invited him shortly after the announcement of the arrest warrants in November 2024.
Reuters reported in November 2024 that the ICC had issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant after the judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe they were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution, and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a “widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza.”
Israel has denounced the warrants against Netanyahu and former Defence Secretary, Yoav Gallant, as “false and absurd” whilst Orban publicly declared he would not arrest Netanyahu if he landed in Hungary.
According to the ICC, countries who are signatories to the Rome Statute (the founding statute of the courts) are considered legally bound to the decisions of the courts. Yet, with no police force, army or legal recourse, the ICC is incapable of enforcing their orders.
With countries like Hungary and the United States refusing to accept the ICC arrest warrants, the legitimacy of the courts has been hard hit in recent months. Netanyahu’s visit only highlights their irrelevance in present-day geopolitics.
The failings of the liberal world order are also demonstrated when Hungary refused to sign a statement calling for no Israeli operation in Rafah alone in February 2023, undermining the legitimacy of the EU as a bloc with united foreign policy.
It has not been just Hungary that has refused to adhere to the rulings of the courts – in January 2024, Italy released and repatriated a man by the name of Osama Njeem who was wanted on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The murkiness around the Italian government’s decision remains with some arguing that they, and the EU more broadly, were complicit in Njeem’s crimes as a Libyan leader of migrant detention centres funded by the EU.
The ICC have also remained deadly silent over the Syrian massacres earlier this month where over 1000 people died in western Syria as Alawite civilians were killed by militias associated with the now-ruling party Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Their lack of response adds to an already dismal picture of the collapse of the international rules-based order.
Despite many countries stating they would arrest Netanyahu if he was to land on their soil, the threat of the courts seem to have no effect on the Israeli Prime Minister who has recently resumed his attacks on the Gaza Strip.
As Maghrebi has reported, the resumption of military operations in the Strip has strengthened Netanyahu’s government after the return of far-right politician Ben-Gvir, an extremely vocal advocate for the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.
Since the collapse of the ceasefire, Israel have killed more than 600 people with the total death toll of Gazans topping 50,000 – a figure many experts deem to be an undercount. Their targeting of civilian infrastructure like hospitals only serves to exacerbate the humanitarian crisis.
With the worsening humanitarian picture and the seemingly endless military bombardment of the Palestinian enclave by a newly-invigorated Israeli government, the ICC seems weaker than ever. With support from countries considered legally-bound by the courts, Netanyahu seems in a stronger position than ever, and with the opportunity to holiday in Hungary.
Reuters, Maghrebi
Want to chase the pulse of North Africa?
Enter your email address and name to receive our weekly newsletter.
