Alwaght- In days when bodies of Palestinian children remain under rubles caused by the Israeli bombardment, the Hungarian government has rolled out red carpet to the butcher of Gaza the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, defying all the international laws and moral principles.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the same person whom the International Criminal Court (ICC) has deemed a war criminal and issued an arrest warrant for, was received not as an international criminal, but as a “special guest” of the unpopular and racist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
This shameful hospitality comes at a time when Netanyahu is once again killing women and children simply to maintain his power and prevent the collapse of his cabinet by unilaterally violating the ceasefire agreement and attacking safe areas in Gaza. This violation of the agreement has been met with protests and opposition even within the occupied territories. But it seems that for Orbán and his supporters, supporting a criminal is more important than supporting the victims of the crime.
It is noteworthy that in recent days, the Israeli army’s ground and air attacks on Rafah and Khan Yunis have killed dozens of civilians, and the number of martyrs since the beginning of the genocidal war has exceeded 50,000.
As a result of the tightening of the siege and the prevention of humanitarian aid from entering the enclave through the crossings, the living situation has become critical again, and the UN has warned that "famine is spreading in Gaza" and that the medical infrastructure has completely collapsed.
Orbán's policies and alliance with Zionism
Hungary under Orbán's has turned into one of Israeli allies in Europe in recent years.
Orbán, who himself is known as an anti-immigration figure and especially hostile to Muslims, has not only supported Netanyahu’s occupation and apartheid policies, but also blocked adoption of EU statements against the Israeli regime.
Leaked documents show that Hungarian representaties in EU institutions have repeatedly blocked the adoption of anti-Israeli resolutions.
In fact, after the regime’s brutal invasion of Gaza began, the official positions of the Orbán government were completely aligned with the Israeli genocide, and while most European countries have protested the aggression, at least ostensibly, Hungary has systematically refused to issue any statement of condemnation. Even the Hungarian state media have either ignored the news of the Gaza massacre or covered it with Israeli narrative.
Meanwhile, some reports indicate an increase in military exchanges between the two sides since the beginning of the war, and the media outlets report that Hungary has supplied data related to Palestinian activists to Mossad.
International reactions
EU: Many member states like Germany and France condemned hosting Netanyahu. The EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrel warned that such measures undermine the credibility of the international legal system.
Rights organizations: Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch described hosting Netanyahu a "clear violation" of Hungarian international obligations.
Palestinian reactions: Palestine's UN emvoys called the move am "encouragement of continuation of Israeli crimes."
Will Budapest's move grant Netanyahu and other Israeli war officials a sense and cover of security?
Both Orbán and Netanyahu are notorious racist politicians who oppose multilateral international institutions such as the UN and the ICC. By receiving Netanyahu, Hungary is indirectly discrediting the ICC arrest warrant and showing other criminal leaders that they can escape legal consequences on the strength of powerful allies.
On the first day of hosting Netanyahu, Orbán said at a joint press conference that his country would withdraw from the Rome Statute, which establishes the ICC, in full. The move is intended to avoid legal consequences for violating the court’s ruling. However, legal experts have said that under the Rome Statute, the withdrawal does not take effect immediately, but must take place 12 months after the date of the formal filing of the case in The Hague, meaning that Hungary is still legally obliged to comply with the court’s decisions during that period.
This move prompts a question: Will this defiant step by Budapest provide Netanyahu and other criminal Israeli leaders and commanders at least a small hope of seeing other countries joining this defiance and consequently escaping arrest and trial?
Indeed Hungary's hosting of Netanyahu is a propagandistic success for the Israeli PM, but this is only short-term and the international pressures will prevail and the more Gaza genocide unfolds, the more global condemnation of Israel grows.
Though Hungary and the US support Israel, the ICC ruling against Netanyahu and his ex-defense minister will keep standing, posing a serious legal threat to them. Netanyahu cannot simply visit many countries since he will live under the shadow of arrest. This Budapest step can even provoke other countries to tighten their legal proceedings against the Israeli PM. For example, South Africa and some Latin American countries which were first to file a suit against Israel for war crimes can step up pressure on Tel Aviv.
