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Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, invited Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to visit Hungary, but several other European nations said the Israeli Premier would be detained if he set foot on their soil, following the issuing of an arrest warrant for him, News.az reports citing Reuters .
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Netanyahu, his former Defence chief, Yoav Gallant, and for a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict.
All EU countries are members of the Court, which means they are supposed to enforce its warrants.
But the diverging reactions – and the fact that EU heavyweights, Germany and France, have not said if they would arrest Netanyahu – highlight the major diplomatic and political challenge posed by the ICC decision, which drew swift condemnation from Israeli leaders and the White House.
“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,” Eurointelligence analysts wrote in a note.
Assuring Netanyahu that he would face no risks if he visited Hungary, Orban branded the arrest warrant a “brazen, cynical and completely unacceptable decision”. Orban, who is often at odds with his EU peers, has forged warm ties with Netanyahu.
“Today I will invite Israel’s Prime Minister, Mr. Netanyahu, for a visit to Hungary and in that invite I will guarantee him that if he comes, the ICC ruling will have no effect in Hungary, and we will not follow its contents,” Orban said.
The ICC, which does not have its own police force to carry out arrests, has only limited diplomatic means to force countries to act if they do not want to.
The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Finland, Portugal, Slovenia and Ireland, are among EU states that have said they would meet their ICC commitments.
Netanyahu will be arrested if he set foot in Ireland, Irish Prime Minister, Simon Harris, told RTE radio. “Yes absolutely. We support international courts and we apply their warrants,” Harris said.
Cyprus, which has close ties to Israel, regards the warrants as binding in principle, a government source told Reuters.