President Isaac Herzog met Tuesday with Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar at the parliament building in Budapest. The two discussed deepening ties and advancing cooperation between Israel and Hungary, Israel’s relations with the European Union, and ways to address challenges facing the Middle East and Europe.
1+Herzog praised the Hungarian government’s fight against antisemitism, commended it for being a safe country for Jews and Israelis, and thanked Magyar for his commitment to the security of Jewish communities in the country. After the meeting, an official lunch was held with senior ministers from the Hungarian cabinet, and at its conclusion the president invited the prime minister to visit Israel.
Magyar, leader of the center-right Tisza party, defeated Viktor Orbán in April elections after Orbán served as prime minister for 16 years. Orbán was considered Israel’s closest ally in the European Union, where he blocked sanctions and condemnations against it. The new prime minister’s party won 141 of 199 seats in parliament—a two-thirds majority—and he was sworn in in May.
1+Magyar also announced he would block his country’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which issued an arrest warrant against Netanyahu, and made clear that Hungary will honor the court’s arrest warrants. In late May, the Budapest parliament approved canceling the withdrawal, which Orbán had initiated while hosting Netanyahu.