As one of 125 member states of the International Criminal Court, Hungary is legally obliged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upon his arrival in Budapest and transfer him directly to The Hague to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity the ICC says he committed during the Gaza war.

The opposite is happening: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is rolling out the red carpet for the Israeli leader during a lavish four-day trip in an ostentatious show of solidarity.

When the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israel's former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, were issued in November 2024, Orban called the ICC "brazen, cynical and completely unacceptable," promising that during any visit to Hungary by Netanyahu, he would "guarantee his freedom and safety."

Unlike national courts, which use their domestic police to enforce arrest warrants, international courts rely on the justice systems of their member states to detain and transfer suspects; the ICC does not have its own police force.

When a country fails to arrest a suspect, ICC judges can initiate a so-called non-compliance procedure, which can result in a referral to the ICC's Assembly of States Parties (ASP) or the United Nations Security Council.

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