Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, right, talk after a welcoming ceremony with a guard of honor at Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)2025-04-03T09:06:15Z BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Hungarys capital early Thursday to red carpet treatment despite a warrant for his arrest issued by the worlds top war crimes court.Hungarys government, led by its populist prime minister and Netanyahu ally, Viktor Orbn, used the occasion of the Israeli leaders visit to announce it will begin the procedure of withdrawing from the International Criminal Court.Just as Netanyahu met with Orbn for a welcome with full military honors in Budapests Castle District, Orbns chief of staff, Gergely Gulys, wrote in a brief statement that the government will initiate the withdrawal procedure on Thursday, in accordance with the constitutional and international legal framework. At the welcoming ceremony kicking off Netanyahus visit, only his second foreign trip since the ICC issued the warrant against him in November, he stood alongside Orbn as a military band played and processions of soldiers on horseback and carrying swords and bayoneted rifles passed by. The two leaders were set to hold talks later on Thursday. Netanyahu will spend several days in Hungary before departing on Sunday. The ICC, based in The Hague, Netherlands, said when issuing its warrant there was reason to believe Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant used starvation as a method of warfare by restricting humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and intentionally targeted civilians in Israels campaign against Hamas charges that Israeli officials deny. Member countries of the ICC, such as Hungary, are required to arrest suspects facing a warrant if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no way to enforce that and relies on states to comply.After the ICC issued the warrant in November, Orbn accused the worlds only permanent global tribunal for war crimes and genocide of interfering in an ongoing conflict for political purposes, saying the move undermined international law and escalated tensions. His invitation to Netanyahu was in open defiance of the courts ruling. Hungary joined the court in 2001 during Orbns first term as prime minister. Reacting to Hungarys decision to leave the court, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar thanked Orbn for the move, writing on X: I commend Hungarys important decision to withdraw from the ICC.The so-called International Criminal Court lost its moral authority after trampling the fundamental principles of international law in its zest for harming Israels right to self-defense, Saar wrote. Thank you Hungary for your clear and strong moral stance alongside Israel and the principles of justice and sovereignty!Netanyahu in February met U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, where Trump suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside the war-torn territory and proposed the U.S. take ownership in redeveloping the area into the Riviera of the Middle East.Neither the United States or Israel are signatories to the ICC. Trump in February issued sanctions against the court for its investigations into Israels conduct of the war in Gaza which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of them children. The ICC has criticized Hungarys decision to defy its warrant for Netanyahu. The courts spokesperson, Fadi El Abdallah, said its not for parties to the ICC to unilaterally determine the soundness of the Courts legal decisions. JUSTIN SPIKE Spike is an Associated Press reporter based in Budapest, Hungary. twitter mailto