European Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday amid a request by the International Criminal Court prosecutor to issue arrest warrants against them for alleged war crimes.
Varhelyi wrote on X:
Honoured to meet Prime Minister Netanyahu to discuss pressing issues in our bilateral relations, the war with Hamas, humanitarian assistance for the people in Gaza and strategic challenge for the region from Iran.
Asked whether European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had approved the meeting, a spokesperson said commissioners do not require prior approval for such a meeting. He also added:
The president trusts that he is conveying the EU position on all bilateral and regional issues to his interlocutors.
Varhelyi’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On May 20, the International Criminal Court prosecutor said he had requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence chief and three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes.
Oliver Varhelyi is a Hungarian lawyer and diplomat, the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement for Hungary in the von der Leyen Commission. His portfolio also includes the EU’s relations with Israel, the legal basis of which is the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
EU-Israel relations are based on the 2005 Action Plan of the European Neighbourhood Policy. The Action Plan aims to gradually integrate Israel into European policies and programmes, and provides for the establishment of 10 sub-committees that meet regularly to discuss priorities and exchange views.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army continues its offensive on Rafah with artillery strikes. Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis share his view of the situation on X:
As the bombs continue to fall, it is hard to imagine Peace. But that could reflect our failure to imagine two states whose purpose is to bring the two people closer, not to create two apartheid states where there is now one.
Earlier, Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who also served as US ambassador to the UN under former President Donald Trump, travelled to Israel on Monday to meet with survivors of the Hamas attack. Haley also went to Israel’s northern border with Israeli Knesset member Danny Danon, who on Tuesday published photos on X showing Haley writing her name and the message “Finish them off!” on Israeli artillery shells.
