Hungary dodges its obligation to enforce an International Criminal Court warrant for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his arrival for a state visit by quitting the court.

Should Hungary follow through with its withdrawal from the world’s only permanent global court for war crimes and genocide, it will become only the third country in the institution’s history of more than 20 years to do so. The process will take more than a year.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Budapest early Thursday on his first trip to Europe since 2023 and in defiance of the International Criminal Court (ICC)'s arrest warrant against him.