Hungary’s new prime minister-elect has confirmed his government would order the arrests of Benjamin Netanyahu if the Israeli prime minister were to visit the country again.
Péter Magyar is set to succeed Viktor Orbán, who held power in Budapest for 16 years, after his Tisza party secured a landslide victory in parliamentary elections earlier this month.
Under Orbán, Hungary maintained a close relationship with Israel, and the outgoing leader hosted a state visit from Netanyahu last year.
This was despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) having a warrant out for Netanyahu’s arrest in connection with alleged war crimes committed by the IDF in Gaza.
At the time, Orbán said that the ICC’s warrants against Netanyahu and ex-Defence Minister Yoav Gallant “clearly showed” that it had become a “political court”.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, called the warrant against him an “antisemitic step that has one goal - to deter me, to deter us from having our natural right to defend ourselves against enemies who try to destroy us”.
Another visit was scheduled for this autumn prior to the election but, despite also being widely seen as a pro-Israel candidate, Magyar, speaking at a press conference on Monday, confirmed that his new government would enforce the warrant should his Israeli counterpart return.
"If a country is a member of the ICC and a person who is wanted by the ICC enters our territory, then that person must be taken into custody,” he said when asked about the issue, adding that he had already conveyed his position directly to Netanyahu.
His remarks came after he confirmed last week that Hungary would rejoin the ICC, reversing a withdrawal process started by Orbán ahead of last year’s state visit.
He also suggested that Hungary may not continue to veto all EU motions against Israel, as had been the case under Orbán, saying: “We need to examine every decision, but I don’t want to run too far into the future. We will see what decisions the EU will make and to see what the truth is.”
Nonetheless, the soon-to-be leader also used his speech to emphasise his country’s “special relationship” with the Jewish state, adding: “A lot of Hungarians live in Israel, a lot of Israeli citizens come here to Hungary.
“Israel is also an important economic partner. We strive for pragmatic relations.”
And he also noted the “very strong Jewish community living in Hungary” and promised “zero tolerance in Hungary to all forms of antisemitism”.
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