‘’I don’t think there is any European country that would arrest Netanyahu if he were on the territory. France, for example, would not, and I think neither would we.,’’ declared Belgian Prime Minister Bart  De Wever.

Belgium would not arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, against whom an arrest warrant has been issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) , if he enters the Belgian territory, declared Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever.

‘’If the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán does not want to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu, then I understand that. I don’t think we would either, to be honest,“ he said on Thursday in an interview with Belgian Flemish public tv VRT following Orban’s decision not to follow the ICC’s arrest warrant against the Israeli Prime Minister who was on a visit in Budapest this week.

‘’I don’t think there is any European country that would arrest Netanyahu if he were on the territory. France, for example, would not, and I think neither would we.,’’ De Wever added.

De Wever’s remarks represent a change from the previous government. Last November, resigning Belgian Development Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said that Belgium would “support and also have to uphold” the international arrest warrant against Netanyahu. “We are on the side of the victims and of international law,’’ he said then.

However, the Belgian Prime Minister said he doesn’t approve Hungary’s decision to withdraw from the ICC which was also announced by Viktor Orban during Netanyhu’s visit.

‘’I believe in multilateralism. You have to be as strong as possible, but alone in the world you don’t amount to much. The world based on rules, that’s the world I prefer,’’ De Wever said.