Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed “heartfelt gratitude” after the Hungarian parliament officially voted to withdraw the country from the International Criminal Court on Tuesday.
“On behalf of the people of Israel, I want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Hungarian People’s Assembly for withdrawing from the corrupt International Criminal Court,” Netanyahu wrote on Wednesday. “The ICC’s actions against Israel and its elected leaders are a betrayal of the principles the ICC was established to defend.”
“Countries of moral clarity should take an example from Hungary and withdraw from the ICC,” he added.
Hungary first announced its intention to withdraw from the ICC at the beginning of April after hosting Netanyahu. Its withdrawal will make Hungary the only European Union member state that does not recognize the court’s mandate.
In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for “war crimes” committed in the Gaza Strip.
The ICC Appeals Chamber reversed a ruling last week that had initially rejected Israel’s jurisdictional objections in November. While the court did not rule that the warrants would be suspended, the legal proceedings against Netanyahu and Gallant will effectively be put on hold until the lower ICC chamber holds additional hearings.
