BUDAPEST, Hungary — More countries plan to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in remarks to the press on Thursday with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, soon after Budapest announced that it would exit the court.

“You and your leadership have done remarkable things for Israel and the Jewish people,” Netanyahu said to Orban. “You stand with us at the EU and the U.N. You took a principled position on the ICC.”

Netanyahu called on “all democracies to stand up to this corrupt organization. It is important as we fight this battle against barbarism.”

“You are the first and dare I say not the last to walk away from this corruption, this rottenness,” he said to Orban.

Netanyahu and Orban spoke on the phone with President Donald Trump on Thursday about Hungary’s withdrawal from the ICC and possible next steps on the matter, according to a readout from Netanyahu’s office.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Kahn issued warrants last year to arrest Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes. In response, Hungary said at the time that it would not honor the warrant and invited Netanyahu to visit. Several other countries have said they would not arrest Netanyahu and Gallant were they to visit, but out of caution, the prime minister has thus far only traveled to the U.S. — which, like Israel, is not a party to the court — and Hungary.

In Budapest, Buda Palace rolled out the red carpet, receiving Netanyahu with an honor guard including a military marching band, cavalry and guards holding bayonets.

Orban said that he is “actually an expert when it comes to this matter” of the ICC because, as prime minister in 1999, he signed Hungary’s accession to the court.

“I am convinced that it has become a political court, not a court of the rule of law,” he said. “We do not wish to have any part of it in the coming period.” 

Orban and Netanyahu also spoke of their countries as defenders of Western civilization.

“In recent years, Hungary has been an island of freedom in Europe, the standard-bearer of Judeo-Christian tradition … Israel can count on Hungary in the future as the impenetrable bastion of Judeo-Christian culture,” Orban declared.

The Hungarian prime minister tied issues on the continent to “illegal migration,” saying that it “contributed to the increase of antisemitism.”

“The Brussels elite does not move to stop [migration], however, Hungary does not accept any type of migration,” he said.

“There is a phenomenon that surprised all of us,” Orban said. “In Western Europe, antisemitism reached levels never before seen. People waving Hamas flags. There is zero tolerance in Hungary for antisemitism.”

Orban described the Hungarian Jewish community as the “third largest in Europe and the most safe in Europe.”

About 80,000-100,000 Jews live in Hungary, making it the third-largest community in the EU, and the country reports lower than the European average levels of antisemitism, according to a report published last year by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.

Echoing Orban, Netanyahu said that “Western civilization is under assault from one powerful quarter: radical Islam.”

But rather than tie the issue to migration, Netanyahu said that the assault is “spearheaded by one country, Iran.”

”We were attacked by Iranian proxies in a murderous campaign, and we will smash the Iranian terror axis, which threatens not only us, but Europe and many of our neighbors in the Middle East. By doing that we are also protecting Europe,” he said, adding that Orban understands this while many other leaders do not.

More than half a million Hungarian Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, with the Hungarian government closely collaborating with the Nazis and killing tens of thousands on their own. Orban has faced accusations of whitewashing Hungarian complicity in the Holocaust.

The Hungarian prime minister briefly referenced the Holocaust in his remarks, saying that “Jews had a difficult past in Hungary [but] now regard it as their home.” 

Netanyahu also downplayed Hungary’s role in the Holocaust. He recalled a visit to the country in 1991, when he was Israel’s deputy foreign minister and the countries were reestablishing relations.

“You had exited the ravages of World War II only to be under a new type of occupation, and it took many decades to liberate yourselves,” he said.

Netanyahu said that was reminiscent of the struggles of the Jewish people, which he acknowledged were at “another level,” and said “one-third of our people were murdered in the Holocaust, and we had to reestablish our historic homeland against all odds.” 

He also praised Orban’s “bold stance against antisemitism,” including adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, which, he said, “says that if you think there shouldn’t be a Jewish state, you’re an antisemite.”