Before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump met in Washington on April 7, the Israeli Premier spent four nights in Budapest, Hungary, and took part in encouraging meetings with his counterpart, Viktor Orbán, along with a host of Jewish leaders in the storied Central European capital.
Orbán warmly welcomed his Israeli counterpart with full military honors in Budapest’s Castle District just upon Netanyahu’s touching down in Budapest.
“No Hamas flags have been flown in Hungary, and they will not be flown in the future,” reminded Orbán.
“This partnership, this friendship today is unparalleled. May it grow even further, may it grow even stronger. Thank you, my friend, Viktor,” responded Netanyahu.
Orbán’s decision to withdraw his nation from the International Criminal Court (ICC) was welcome news for Netanyahu, a sharp sign that ties between the two countries have not only flourished in recent years but that Israel maintains a true partner and friend in Hungary.
The ICC, based in The Hague, had issued a warrant last fall for Netanyahu’s arrest over the Israeli Defense Forces’ alleged misconduct in its war against Hamas, which began eighteen months ago. Most rational legal scholars have viewed the ICC’s action to issue a warrant for Netanyahu as “shameful” and “outrageous.”
“I am convinced the ICC is no longer an impartial court, not a court of law, but a political court, and this was most clearly shown by the decisions regarding Israel,” Orbán said during his press conference alongside Netanyahu on April 3. “I am convinced that this otherwise important international judicial forum has been degraded into a political tool with which we cannot and do not want to engage. A democratic state cannot participate in it,” added Orbán.
“Hungary exits the International Criminal Court. The government will initiate the withdrawal procedure in accordance with the constitutional and international legal framework,” Gergely Gulyás, Orbán’s chief of staff, read in a statement.
Netanyahu called Hungary’s decision a “bold and principled position [as the ICC] threatens democracy and is corrupt.”
During his talks with Netanyahu, Orbán also cited the commonalities between Israel’s and Hungary’s defense and economic sectors. He noted that 150 Israeli companies—mostly within the pharmaceutical industry and the high-tech sector—are currently working and based in Hungary.
“We are glad that Israel has not raised any obstacles to exports from Hungary,” he added.
On April 4, Netanyahu held a meeting in Budapest with various Hungarian Jewish leaders and representatives, including Dr. Andor Grosz, who serves as the President of the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities (MAZSIHISZ), among others, as well as the Chief Rabbi of EMIH – an affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch, Slomó Köves. The non-press event was also moderated by Israel’s ambassador to Budapest, Maya Kadosh.
Netanyahu cited noted Zionist figures, Theodor Herzl and Max Nordau, as the benchmark that helped define Jewish greatness with their invariable ties that unite the two countries.
Netanyahu also gave thanks for Hungary’s state financial support in fostering Jewish institutions like the MAZSIHISZ Charity Hospital.
“MAZSIHISZ naturally not only deals with the memories of the past but also builds modern Jewish life for future generations of Hungarian Jews,” added Dr. Grosz, in a statement written by MAZSIHISZ.
Along with Orbán and other dignitaries, Netanyahu visited the ‘Shoes on the Danube’ Holocaust Memorial. This artistic memorial site, conceived by film director Can Togay and created on the east bank with sculptor Gyula Pauer, pays homage to the Jews massacred by the Arrow Cross Hungarian militia during World War II. Jews were forced to take off their shoes—seen as valuable items, which were resold—and systematically killed at the edge of the water. Around 800 Jews were killed by the Arrow Cross militia.
While meeting with Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, along with a forum of senior local business leaders, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office discussed broad strengthening economic, security, and technological measures.
Netanyahu also has an invitation from Friedrich Merz, the projected incoming Chancellor of Germany.
By Jared Feldschreiber
