U-turn: Brussels won’t arrest Netanyahu, Belgian PM says

In a turnabout from the policies of Belgium’s previous government, Prime Minister Bart De Wever on Thursday said his country would ignore a warrant for the arrest of his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu.

“To be completely honest, I don’t think we would either,” De Wever told a journalist from the VRT broadcaster who asked him about Hungary’s decision to ignore the warrant. The International Criminal Court issued it in November against Netanyahu and his then defense minister Yoav Gallant on suspicion of war crimes, charges Israel has denied.

“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 said they would not act on the arrest warrant. Germany and Italy criticized the warrant without explicitly saying they would ignore it. The Netherlands and Austria are among the countries that criticized it but said they would act on it.

“The prime minister’s words represent a major shift in policy,” Michael Freilich, a lawmaker from De Wever’s party, told JNS. “Slowly, we are seeing positive changes, also regarding the fight against antisemitism and the protection of Jewish institutions.”

De Wever’s center-right government, led by his National Flemish Alliance party, was sworn in on Feb. 3. It replaced a left-wing coalition where the Socialist Party was the largest partner, which pursued polices hostile to Israel.

Under the previous government, Belgium joined South Africa’s lawsuit at the International Court of Justice—a U.N. tribunal that is unrelated to the ICC—against Israel for alleged genocide in Gaza.

Belgium’s previous government pledged to uphold the ICC arrest warrant, and at least one of its top ministers urged 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 Alexander De Croo appeared to be on board. He stated on Nov. 28 that Belgium would “assume its responsibility” vis-à-vis the ICC as “there can be no double standards.”

Belgium’s about-face comes amid several high-profile failures for the international lawfare campaign against Israel. Netanyahu is currently in Hungary, which is among the 125 countries that accepted the ICC’s jurisdiction and authority. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Hungary would ignore the warrant. His government announced on Thursday it would withdraw its recognition of the ICC.

De Wever addressed this in the VRT interview. “To immediately withdraw from the international legal order—that connection, I do not see happening,” he said.

Nicaragua, meanwhile, has ended its involvement in the International Court of Justice case against Israel, which it joined in February 2024.

© JNS