Dr. Fiamma Nirenstein
Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, Apr. 6, 2025
“… only Orbán and the United States have fully stepped outside the U.N.-driven institutional onslaught against Israel.”
In the face of Israel’s war—a response forced upon it by Hamas’s brutal assault aimed at the nation’s destruction—there is a disturbing tendency to forget the context, the cause and the necessity of its actions. This same amnesia seems to pervade commentary surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent visit to Hungary and the joint condemnation by him and Viktor Orbán of the International Criminal Court.
As the journalist Iuri Maria Prado noted, the ICC is often regarded—by even the most ardent defenders of legal formalism—as an “oracular center of orientation.” This couldn’t be more evident today. Mainstream media treats Netanyahu as a war criminal by default, and scolds him for meeting with Orbán, the European Union’s black sheep. Underlying this indignation is the unspoken assumption that Israel must always be condemned, regardless of the circumstances.
When the subject is war, the world rushes to criticize Israel while erasing the reality that Hamas must be defeated for the sake of Israel’s very survival. Humanitarian accusations, many of which have been exaggerated or outright fabricated, dance around the facts: Israel has abided by international humanitarian laws, provided food, issued warnings before attacks and shown restraint despite unprecedented provocation. The casualty figures repeatedly cited are wildly inflated and unsupported by serious investigative journalism.
Now, as the conversation shifts to Netanyahu’s trip to Budapest, once again the political meaning is conveniently ignored. This was more than a diplomatic visit—it was a symbolic act of resistance. Stepping foot safely on European soil, Netanyahu confronted the legitimacy of the ICC and the falsehoods it propagates, especially as Orbán declares his intention to withdraw from the institution. ….SOURCE