The Hungarian Parliament approved a bill on May 20 that will begin the country’s year-long withdrawal process from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Last month, Orbán said the ICC was “no longer an impartial court, a rule-of-law court, but rather a political court.”
He also rejected the idea of arresting Netanyahu and said the ICC’s ruling was “brazen, cynical and completely unacceptable.”
On Tuesday, 134 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill to withdraw Hungary from the ICC, and 37 voted against it.
Netanyahu said Budapest’s decision to leave the ICC was a “bold and principled decision.”
The court, based in The Hague, Netherlands, alleged they used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and intentionally targeted civilians. Israeli officials deny the charges.
Israel says the court has lost legitimacy by issuing warrants against a democratically elected leader of a country exercising the right of self-defense. It says the charges are politically motivated and fueled by anti-Semitism.
A country’s withdrawal from the court takes effect one year after the U.N. secretary-general receives written notification of the move.
Established in 1998 by the Rome Statute, the ICC was meant to provide judicial services when no other options were available.
It began operations in 2002 to prosecute those accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, with Hungary as one of the founding members.
Major countries that are not members of the ICC include the United States, China, Russia, Israel, India, Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran.
Hungary’s withdrawal is not the only action that has been taken against the court.
“The United States will impose tangible and significant consequences on those responsible for the ICC’s transgressions, some of which may include the blocking of property and assets, as well as the suspension of entry into the United States of ICC officials, employees, and agents, as well as their immediate family members, as their entry into our Nation would be detrimental to the interests of the United States,” the order read.
Trump’s order declares that the United States “remains committed to accountability and to the peaceful cultivation of international order, but the ICC and parties to the Rome Statute must respect the decisions of the United States and other countries not to subject their personnel to the ICC’s jurisdiction, consistent with their respective sovereign prerogatives.”
