JNS

Hungary is expected to announce during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official state visit on Thursday, April 3, that it is withdrawing from the International Criminal Court in The Hague and that it is moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, JNS has learned.

The diplomatic moves would serve to strengthen the alliance between Hungary, Israel and the United States at a time of fractious divisions over foreign policy within the European Union.

The Israeli leader meets with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as part of an official four-day visit.

Netanyahu’s rare wartime trip to Hungary is his first visit to Europe since the ICC issued an arrest warrant for him and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister, last year for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip. His wife, Sara Netanyahu, will accompany him on the visit.

Orban had invited Netanyahu to visit Budapest the day after the ICC decision last year, and said he would not enforce the arrest warrant.

More Than Symbolic

The long-planned embassy decision, which had been delayed by the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the 17-month-long war in Gaza, would make Hungary the first country in the European Union to open an embassy in Israel’s capital in the wake of the landmark move promulgated by the United States in 2017 under the first Trump administration.

Hungarian officials reached in Budapest declined to comment ahead of the summit meeting, citing diplomatic protocol.

Hungary’s Honorary Consul in Israel said bilateral ties were stronger than ever before, and Hungary under Orbán was “by far” the strongest ally Israel has in the European Union.

“The relations between Hungary and Israel are excellent, and develop every day to an additional level,” Honorary Consul David Wiernik told JNS. “The recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and the move to Jerusalem, is very important to the State of Israel and is much more than a symbolic move.”

Hungary has been operating a trade office in Jerusalem since 2019.

Two years ago, Eli Cohen, Israel’s foreign minister, announced during a visit to Budapest that Hungary would open an embassy in Jerusalem, but the move never materialized. The Hamas attack took place that fall.

Hungary, which has aligned itself closely with U.S. President Donald Trump and Netanyahu on foreign policy, has emerged as one of Israel’s strongest allies in Europe, staunchly backing the Jewish state in global arenas, and when it comes to the European Union and NATO.

Six countries have their embassies in Israel’s capital: the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Paraguay and Papua New Guinea. All other nations that maintain ties with Israel have their embassies in Tel Aviv or its suburbs due to the political sensitivities of Jerusalem.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in December 2017 set the stage for other countries to follow suit, but the war against Hamas in Gaza triggered by the Oct. 7 massacre delayed  for many such action.

‘Interfering in an ongoing conflict’

Earlier this year, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar visited Hungary and thanked Budapest for its stance against the “politicized and corrupt” ICC. Orbán has accused the court of “interfering in an ongoing conflict for political purposes” and has called the court’s decision to issue the arrest warrant “brazen, cynical and completely unacceptable.”

Neither Israel nor the United States is party to the court, and the Trump administration has sanctioned them for their actions against Israel.