France, April 3 -- Hungary's government has decided to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, it said on Thursday, shortly after Israeli leaderBenjamin Netanyahu, sought under an ICC arrest warrant,arrived in the country for a state visit.

Right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban invited his Israeli counterpart to Budapest in November, a day after the ICC issued its arrest warrant over allegations of war crimes in Gaza, where Israel launched its offensive following an attack by Hamas-led fighters on southern Israel.

Israel has rejected the accusations, which it says are politically motivated and fuelled by anti-Semitism. It says the International Criminal Court has lost all legitimacy by issuing the warrants against a d...