Hungary Plans Exit from International Criminal Court Following Netanyahu’s Visit

Hungary will withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), the government announced Thursday, just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Budapest for a state visit despite an active ICC arrest warrant against him for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the war in the Gaza Strip, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Netanyahu’s arrival in Hungary on Wednesday marked the first time the Israeli leader has traveled to Europe after the Netherlands-based court issued the arrest warrants in November.

The ICC sent a request to Hungarian authorities Thursday to detain the Israeli leader, but officials said that Hungary would begin the withdrawal process “in line with constitutional and international legal obligations.”

During a joint news conference Thursday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán – who for months has said Hungary would not comply with the warrant – denounced the court of having become “a political court”

He added that “Israel can count on Hungary as the impenetrable European bastion of the Judeo-Christian culture.”

Netanyahu, who faces charges alongside former defense minister Yoav Gallant, thanked Orbán for what he called a “bold and principled” decision.

Headquartered in The Hague, the ICC arrest warrants accuse Netanyahu and Gallant of using starvation as a method of warfare and deliberately targeting civilians by restricting humanitarian aid to Gaza since fighting began in October 2023.

The court also issued a warrant for the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif – whom Israel claims was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July 2024.

Israel and its allies have dismissed the charges as baseless and politically motivated.

Observers and human rights noted that the move that places Hungary in direct opposition to its obligations under international law, while also signaling deepening divisions within the European Union over the court’s legitimacy.

Hungary signed the Rome Statute that established the ICC in 1999 and ratified it in 2001. Formal withdrawal from the ICC takes at least a year, during which Hungary is still legally obligated to comply with ICC requests, according to the Washington Post.

Only two countries – Burundi in 2017 and the Philippines in 2019 – have previously withdrawn from the ICC.

Hungary’s move marks the first time an EU nation has announced plans to exit the ICC.

Even so, a number of EU countries – while remaining parties to the Rome Statute – have expressed reservations about enforcing the ICC’s warrant against Netanyahu.

France and Italy have signaled that they would be unlikely to arrest the Israeli leader if he were to visit.

The United States – which has never ratified the Rome Statute – has strongly condemned the ICC’s move. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in February authorizing sanctions against ICC officials involved in the Gaza investigation, accusing the court of pursuing “illegitimate and baseless actions” targeting Israel and the US.

Meanwhile, analysts warned that Hungary’s withdrawal and the broader reluctance among Western nations to enforce the ICC’s warrants could severely undermine the court’s credibility and enforcement power.

They also say that the ICC’s growing willingness to pursue high-profile cases – including against leaders of major powers, such as Russia and Israel – has left it politically vulnerable, with enforcement now increasingly shaped by geopolitical alliances rather than the rule of law.