By Marcelo Nagy
Budapest, April 3 (EFE). – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was received in Budapest on Thursday by his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán, and expressed support for Hungary’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court.
“This is no longer an impartial court, a rule-of-law court, but rather a political court. This has become the clearest in light of its decisions on Israel,” Orban said at a news conference with Netanyahu.
The Israeli delegation applauded Orban’s declaration and Netanyahu congratulated his host for showing “extraordinary courage in the face of anti-Semitism.”
Thursday was the Israeli PM’s first visit to a European Union country since the ICC issued an arrest warrant against him for alleged war crimes committed against the people of Gaza.
In Budapest, he was received with honors and as a close friend by Orbán, who had already promised when he invited him that he would not comply with the ICC warrant.
Both leaders warned of the danger they saw in Islamic radicalism and defended their controversial policies by claiming they were protecting the Judeo-Christian tradition.
“I would say that our cooperation goes deeper than that because I believe we are fighting a similar battle for the future of our common civilization. Our Judeo-Christian civilization, Western civilization as we understand it, is under assault right now from one powerful corner and that is radical Islam,” Netanyahu said.
The Israeli leader praised Hungary’s support for Israel and denounced Iran’s terror campaign through “the three H’s: Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis.”
Israel is determined to “dismantle the Iranian axis of terror,” Netanyahu stressed, asserting that it is protecting not only his country but Europe as well.
As on countless previous occasions, Orbán lashed out at the European Commission and his EU partners, this time accusing them of failing to prevent the rise of antisemitism.
“We are showing zero tolerance, and Jews in Hungary can feel safe,” he says. Orban says that illegal immigration into Europe is a driver of antisemitism, and the “elites in Brussels are not dealing with it.”
Hours after these statements, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office reported that Orbán and Netanyahu had a phone conversation with US President Donald Trump about Hunagry’s decision to withdraw from the ICC.
In addition to the meeting with Orbán, Netanyahu met with Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok, whom he thanked for the Central European country’s support, the MTI agency reported.
The Democratic Coalition, a social democratic and opposition formation in Hungary, criticized the prime minister for receiving the Israeli premier, once again distancing himself from Hungary’s partners in the EU and NATO.
“Orbán intentionally provokes his allies with Netanyahu’s visit,” it said in a statement.
Netanyahu will remain in Budapest until Sunday, despite facing a crisis at home over his clash with the Supreme Court, which has suspended the government’s decision to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security service.
Added to this is the scandal known in the Israeli press as “Qatargate”, in which two advisors close to Netanyahu are under arrest and accused of having received funds to favor the interests of the Emirate in Israel. EFE
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