Why didn’t Hungary arrest Netanyahu? ICC wants answers

[trophy33]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking answers from Hungary after the country did not comply with an international arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his official visit to Budapest earlier this month.

As reported by Telex, according to The Times of Israel, the ICC submitted a formal request for clarification, citing Article 87 of the Rome Statute — a provision that allows the court to challenge countries that obstruct its operations by refusing to cooperate.

Why didn’t Hungary arrest Netanyahu? ICC wants answers - DailyNewsHungary

⚖️ ICC presses Hungary over Netanyahu’s Budapest visit: The International Criminal Court wants to know why Hungary didn’t arrest Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during his recent trip to Budapest—despite an active ICC warrant. The visit came just as Hungary announced plans to exit the court...

dailynewshungary.com

 

[Aryeh Jay]

I would be careful with sitting heads of state. It's one thing getting former leaders like Pinochet or Duarte, quite another with a guy who still has an army and (possible) nuclear weapons.

 

[trophy33]

I would be careful with sitting heads of state. It's one thing getting former leaders like Pinochet or Duarte, quite another with a guy who still has an army and (possible) nuclear weapons.

It should be said that even though Hungary is a ICC member, Orban invited Netanyahu anyway and promised him he will not be arrested. Netanyahu would not travel there without this.

But to your point - what do you think would happen if he were arrested and given over to the ICC?

 

[mindlight]

It should be said that even though Hungary is a ICC member, Orban invited Netanyahu anyway and promised him he will not be arrested. Netanyahu would not travel there without this.

But to your point - what do you think would happen if he were arrested and given over to the ICC?

America could veto disregard any trial against one of its key allies. Similarly, Russia or China could veto disregard any trials of their own leaders. This is why the ICC mainly focuses on African cases where the national actors are weaker. The conflicts between Realpolitik and international notions of law are too profound for this body to have any effectiveness vis-à-vis the largest crimes of the current era.

Besides, Netanyahu, for all his faults, is just defending Israel against terrorist attacks that are killing his people. The anti-semitism behind the rulings against him and the real motivations for them are deeply disturbing.

EDIT in bold

 

[trophy33]

America could veto any trial against one of its key allies. Similarly, Russia or China could veto any trials of their own leaders.

No, the ICC operates independently and member countries do not have any veto power. China is not a signatory and Russia and the USA were, but withdrew.

 

[Laodicean60]

The International Criminal Court (ICC)

Why would anyone trust the ICC

 

[trophy33]

Why would anyone trust the ICC

You would need to ask the 125 states that signed the Rome Statue treaty.

 

[mindlight]

No, the ICC operates independently and member countries do not have any veto power. China is not a signatory and Russia and the USA were, but withdrew.

I made assumptions in my post, which I did not check - sorry - veto was the wrong word to use. You are right, none of the top three powers, including the USA, respect the jurisdiction of the ICC. My main point is that the ICC was powerless against the world's largest powers. It could not enforce a ruling against an American citizen anyway. Also, Trump considers them to be heavily biased against Israel - hence his sanctions against the ICC:

Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency

www.whitehouse.gov

 

[trophy33]

I made assumptions in my post, which I did not check - sorry - veto was the wrong word to use. You are right, none of the top three powers, including the USA, respect the jurisdiction of the ICC. My main point is that the ICC was powerless against the world's largest powers. It could not enforce a ruling against an American citizen anyway. Also, Trump considers them to be heavily biased against Israel - hence his sanctions against the ICC:

Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency

www.whitehouse.gov

Yes, the ICC does not have its own police force or something like that, it relies on the cooperation of the member states that established the ICC. Hungary is one of them.

I am not sure why Trump thinks it is heavily biased against Israel. But only few people actually understand what Trump is thinking or doing.

 

[mindlight]

The ICC does not have its own police force or something like that, it relies on the cooperation of the member states that established the ICC. Hungary is one of them.

Orbán is desperate to save his economy, which has been struggling since the Ukraine war began. He is not going to arrest the leader of an American ally while negotiations are ongoing relating to tariffs on his country by the USA and would probably be disinclined to do so even if they were not. A trial of someone like Netanyahu who is just a national leader doing his job would most likely break the ICC - they should be grateful that Orbán did not hand him over.

 

[Laodicean60]

You would need to ask the 125 states that signed the Rome Statue treaty.

Have they shown bias?

 

[Aryeh Jay]

But to your point - what do you think would happen if he were arrested and given over to the ICC?

Possibly the same thing that happened to Black September.

 

[trophy33]

Possibly the same thing that happened to Black September.

Civil war? Where, in Israel?

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Civil war? Where? The ICC is seated in Netherlands.

I'm sorry, The Black September Organization, the people who carried out the 1972 Munich Olympic Village attack. Mossad sent people all over Europe and people mysteriously died when their buildings or telephones exploded. People also fell on knives and bullets.

Lots of accidents.

 

[trophy33]

I'm sorry, The Black September Organization, the people who carried out the 1972 Munich Olympic Village attack. Mossad sent people all over Europe and people mysteriously died when their buildings or telephones exploded. People also fell on knives and bullets.

Lots of accidents.

Ok, you mean terrorist attacks. I thought you meant the civil war in Jordan.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Orban has said Hungary would leave the ICC, so I expect he'll make that happen officially (or not), tell the ICC to get bent, and that will be the end of it.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Simple, because Hungary doesn't want to risk angering the US.

George Bush withdrew from "The Rome Statute" in 2002, which means the US doesn't recognize the ICC as having any type of authority.

The US also went a step further and established the "Hague Invasion Act" (they ended up renaming it something a little more "diplomatic-sounding").

Which means if an ICC member state tries to arrest/incarcerate an American citizen (or ally) based on an ICC warrant/ruling, US will use force if necessary to free the detained individual.