Rejecting the policies of the previous Belgian government, Prime Minister Bart de Wever on Thursday said his country would ignore an arrest warrant for his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.
“To be completely honest, I don’t think we would either,” de Wever told a reporter for broadcaster VRT , who asked him about Hungary’s decision to ignore the warrant. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued it in November to Netanyahu and his then defence minister Yoav Gallant on suspicion of war crimes, charges Israel denies.
“There is such a thing as realpolitik, I don’t think any European country would arrest Netanyahu if he were on their territory. France wouldn’t do it, and I don’t think we would, either,” he said.
France, Hungary and Poland are among the countries that have said they would not act on the arrest warrant. Germany and Italy have criticised the warrant without explicitly saying they will ignore it. The Netherlands and Austria are among the countries that have criticised the warrant but have said they will act on it. Michael Freilich, a lawmaker from De Wever’s party, told JNS:
“The prime minister’s words represent a major shift in policy. Slowly, we are seeing positive changes, also regarding the fight against antisemitism and the protection of Jewish institutions.”
De Wever’s centre-right government, led by his National Flemish Alliance party, was sworn in on February 3. It replaced a left-wing coalition whose largest partner was the Socialist Party, which had a policy hostile to Israel.
Under the previous government, Belgium joined South Africa’s lawsuit in the International Court of Justice, a UN tribunal unrelated to the ICC, against Israel for alleged genocide in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s arrest campaign
The previous Belgian government pledged to support the ICC arrest warrant, and at least one of its leading ministers has called on other countries to do the same.
The previous government’s deputy prime minister, Petra de Sutter, wrote on X in November:
“Europe must comply. Impose economic sanctions, suspend the Association Agreement with Israel and uphold these arrest warrants.”
Former Prime Minister Alexandre de Croo did not seem to be left out either. On November 28, he said that Belgium would “take responsibility” before the ICC because “there can be no double standards.”
Belgium’s reversal came amid several high-profile failures in the international campaign against Israel. Netanyahu is currently in Hungary, which is among 125 countries that have recognised the jurisdiction and powers of the ICC. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said Hungary will ignore the warrant. On Thursday, his government announced it would withdraw its recognition of the ICC.
De Wever addressed the issue in an interview with VRT. “To immediately withdraw from the international legal order—that connection, I do not see happening,” he said.
Nicaragua, meanwhile, has withdrawn its participation in the International Court of Justice case against Israel, which it joined in February 2024.
