In Budapest, Herzog meets Hungary’s new PM Magyar, who pledges to visit Israel

President Isaac Herzog met Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar in Budapest on Tuesday, marking the first meeting between an Israeli leader and Hungary’s new premier since he unseated longtime pro-Israel leader Viktor Orban earlier this year.

Herzog also met his Hungarian counterpart, Andras Baka.

According to Herzog’s office, he and Magyar discussed “advancing bilateral cooperation and Israel’s relations with the European Union,” as well as regional “challenges,” during a private meeting and working lunch with senior Hungarian ministers.

Herzog thanked Magyar’s government for its stance against antisemitism and invited him to visit Israel, an invitation the Hungarian leader appeared to accept, telling Herzog: “Thank you for visiting us, and see you in Israel.”

The meeting came six months after Magyar defeated the right-wing Orban, a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Over the course of his 16 years as prime minister, Orban’s government was among Israel’s staunchest defenders in the EU, amid mounting tensions between Brussels and Jerusalem over Israeli policies in Gaza and the West Bank.

Orban’s rule over what he himself had called an “illiberal” democracy was also marked by repeated confrontations with European Union institutions over democratic standards and the rule of law.

And he faced accusations of antisemitism, including when the local Jewish community and Israel’s ambassador called for an end to a government billboard campaign targeting Hungarian-American Jewish billionaire George Soros, a progressive philanthropist and political megadonor.

The billboards showed a grinning Soros and the words, “Let’s not allow Soros to have the last laugh.” The government objected to Soros’s call for Hungary to allow migrants to enter the country. Many of the billboards were defaced with antisemitic graffiti.

While Magyar has pledged to maintain strong ties with Israel, his government reversed Orban’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza. The reversal means Netanyahu is at risk of arrest if he visits Hungary.

Hungary’s president vows ‘zero tolerance’ for antisemitism

Herzog held talks with Baka at the Sándor Palace before meeting Magyar.

Speaking at a joint press briefing following the presidents’ closed-door meeting, Herzog described Hungary as a “friend and an ally,” praised its role in promoting “balanced and constructive relations” between Israel and the European Union and expressed confidence that the relationship would continue to develop under the new government.

“Over the course of this past year, we’ve seen our strong bilateral alliance deepen considerably,” Herzog said. “By joining hands, we are harnessing the best of our creativity, resourcefulness and determination towards shaping secure economic [and] technological futures.”

Baka offered a more restrained assessment, describing relations as “cordial and stable” and saying the two countries had no “outstanding bilateral issues” and that Israel remained an “important economic partner.”

The Hungarian president also pointed to the fighting in Gaza, which has continued at a low level following a ceasefire a year ago in the war sparked by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 onslaught. Baka called for unhindered deliveries of humanitarian aid to the Strip’s civilian population.

“International humanitarian law must be fully respected, and aid must reach those in need safely and without interruption,” Baka said. “Any lasting peace must offer families on both sides a reason to believe that their children can grow up free from fear and insecurity that have shaped so many lives.”

Herzog said Israel does not “choose war,” and raised the threat posed by Iran and its regional proxies, including terror groups Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen. He warned that the danger extended beyond the Middle East and required cooperation among “freedom-loving nations” to confront it.

“In recent years, we’ve contended with a clear, present and ongoing threat of terror and extremism emanating from Iran and spread through its network of radical proxies,” he said. “They may sit in the Middle East, but they threaten the entire world, and the alliance of freedom-loving nations is critical to confronting it.”

Herzog also addressed next week’s Knesset election, telling his Hungarian counterpart that Israel’s next government would face considerable diplomatic and security challenges.

“The next Israeli government, whatever its form, will have to contend with big challenges that go to the heart of our security and our position in the international arena,” Herzog said, expressing confidence that Jerusalem would “continue to find an ally and friend in Hungary.”

Both presidents addressed Hungary’s Jewish community and the legacy of the Holocaust. Baka reaffirmed Hungary’s “zero tolerance” policy toward antisemitism, while Herzog recalled the destruction of Hungarian Jewish life by the Nazis, describing the Holocaust’s legacy as a “moral memory” guiding the present.

The trip also carried personal significance for Herzog, whose father, former president Chaim Herzog, made the first state visit to Hungary by a sitting Israeli president in June 1991, less than two years after the restoration of diplomatic relations between the countries.

Recalling his father’s hope that relations between Israel and Hungary would continue to deepen, Herzog said he was proud to see how the relationship had developed over the intervening 35 years.

“Today, as president of the State of Israel, and as his son, I’m immensely proud to see how much that hope has become a reality,” he said.