Alex Traiman
JNS, Apr. 6, 2025
“Not only was Netanyahu the first world leader to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House, barely two weeks after his second inauguration in early February, he will now be the first leader to meet Trump twice.”
On short notice last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a visit to Budapest, Hungary, for a visit with his closest European ally, Viktor Orbán.
Orbán rolled out the red carpet with a pomp and circumstance welcome, with Budapest’s famous bridges across the Danube lined with alternating Hungarian and Israeli flags. It is one of only a few locations Netanyahu could travel to safely and be welcomed in with open arms following the issuance of arrest warrants against him and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant in November by the International Criminal Court.
By not having Netanyahu arrested, Orbán was defying the ICC and setting an example for other European nations. Orbán rewarded Netanyahu’s visit by further announcing that Hungary, a member of the European Union, would formally withdraw from the ICC, which Orbán said had turned from an “important institution” into a “political tool.”
Following Orbán’s dramatic announcement, Netanyahu thanked the Hungarian leader, and suggested that while Hungary was the first to withdraw it would likely “not be the last.” Netanyahu and his ally Orbán were setting a global model for other nations to The two also discussed expanding Israeli-Hungarian economic cooperation, particularly in the area of defense manufacturing, as Israel seeks to diversify its supply chains for basic munitions. …SOURCE