Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu applauded Hungary for its "bold and principled" decision to leave the International Criminal Court as he visited Budapest on Thursday, a rare trip abroad in defiance of an ICC arrest warrant.

Hungary will withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), its government said Wednesday, as the country’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban welcomed Israeli Prime Minister and ICC fugitive Benjamin Netanyahu to Budapest.

The announcement preceded Netanyahu’s arrival in Budapest for a state visit, which comes as he faces multiple scandals at home and as Israel ramps up fighting in Gaza. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is a doyen of the European populist right and a longtime Netanyahu ally.