Greece, Macedonia and Serbia collude in visit and European governments make their contempt for international law clear
Hungary has announced its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) to dodge its obligation to arrest wanted Israeli war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu, during his visit to Hungary this week after an invitation that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made hours after the ICC issued its arrest warrant last year for Netanyahu’s war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Parroting Israeli propaganda, Orban claimed the ICC is a “political court” because it wants to hold Israel to account. The far-right Orban, despite a long history of accusations of antisemitism, has been called by Netanyahu a “true friend of Israel” for his support for the apartheid regime – support he is now continuing despite Israel’s genocide, ethnic cleansing and string of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Technically, the withdrawal does not take effect until a year after Hungary formally notifies the ICC. The Court’s spokesman Fad El-Abdullah said:
On the visit of Mr Netanyahu, the Court has followed its standard procedures, after the issuance of an arrest warrant. The Court recalls that Hungary remains under a duty to cooperate with the ICC.
Netanyahu’s trip to Hungary also involved collusion by the governments of Greece, North Macedonia and Serbia, who all allowed his flight to cross their airspace unimpeded:
Orban is not the only EU premier to refuse to obey international law in order to grant Netanyahu impunity, as western governments make clear their lack of commitment to international law despite Israel’s slaughter and maiming of around half a million Palestinian civilians and its attacks on the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen – the one country that has taken its obligation to prevent genocide seriously. Poland, France, Germany and Italy are among the signatory governments that have said they will not carry out that obligation. Keir Starmer’s UK government has also refused to say that it will fulfil its legal duty. Following its usual pattern, the Israeli regime has claimed that the court’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant are ‘antisemitic’.
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The irony in all of this is of course to forget that the ICC was formed to avoid the atrocities that had taken place during WWII, (a minority of) which were directed against the Jews. Some things are so illogical as to beggar belief. And of course the Hungarians were desperate to get away from Soviet rule via tanks in 1956. Black is white, up is down, right is left.
Another irony is that it was the Zionist leaders of the Budapest Jews who cut a deal with the Nazis when it came to sending them to the death camps. The Nazis were anxious to prevent a repeat of the Warsaw ghetto uprising when it was Budapest’s turn, so they offered the treacherous community leaders & their families safe passage to Switzerland in return for keeping schtum to their brethren about their imminent fate. It seems counter-intuitive, but fanatical maniacs of even the most unlikely pairing recognise and respect each other and have no problem doing each other favours. You might even think that sounds pretty familiar today!
Interestingly, the relevant Wikipedia page (updated 4 days ago, by a bot!) has Hasbara-ed the whole thing, recasting it’s a humanitarian rescue mission. Yeah, Benny. There was, however, a BBC documentary about it a couple of years ago, whose name sadly escapes me, in which Zsusi, the daughter of Rudolf Kastner (the “hero” of the “humanitarian mission”) confessed to the truth of the betrayal.
I recall a letter in the Guardian a while ago (it would never get printed now) from a Jewish London resident saying that when Budapest Jews who survived the holocaust arrived in Israel, they found their former “community leaders” already in prominent positions in the Israeli state. Can anyone honestly doubt it?
Hungary’s Grotesque Right Wing Govt withdraws from Humanity as it hosts a War Criminal.
Hungarian people kick your Right Wing Rubbish Out!