When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that he would be flying to Hungary, I received a call from an outraged friend.
“We’re in the midst of a war, with 59 hostages still in Gaza” she said, seething. “And Bibi has nothing better to do than take Sara on a jaunt to Europe for their anniversary?”
Apparently, this is how the excursion was initially portrayed by the Israeli TV channel she watches religiously. Never mind that the state visit in and of itself was highly significant and would turn out to have important global repercussions.
The fact that it coincided with a marital milestone for the premier and his wife was sufficient to provide the hostile press with fodder for the fake-news mill—despite the dramatic build-up to the trip.
The latter consisted, on one hand, of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s declaration that he would be ignoring the arrest warrant issued in November for Netanyahu by the International Criminal Court; on the other, of the threat that other European parties to the ICC would forbid the Wings of Zion, the Israeli government’s official aircraft, to enter their airspace.
Well, Netanyahu made it to Budapest with no mishaps. On the contrary, he was greeted early Thursday morning at Ferenc Liszt Airport like a rock star. Quite a departure from the way he’s been treated at home these days by vociferous detractors who drown out the more subdued majority.
Shortly before his arrival at Buda Castle, where he was received by Orbán with a military ceremony—the two leaders walking the red carpet before pausing in front of their national flags—Hungary announced that it was formally exiting the ICC, which “has been diminished to a political tool.”
During a joint press conference following the lavish proceedings, Orbán described the Jewish state as “an anchor in the Middle East,” expressing hope that Netanyahu “can guarantee the security of Israel and your right to self-defense.”
Israel, he added, can count on Hungary in the future as the impenetrable European bastion of Judeo-Christian culture.”
As David Isaac reported in JNS, Netanyahu told Orbán, “You support Israel. Proudly. Unstintingly. You stand with us at the E.U., you stand with us at the U.N. and you’ve just taken a bold and principled decision on the ICC. … We will smash the Iranian … terror axis, which threatens not only us but Europe and many of our neighbors in the Middle East. We’re committed to doing so, and by doing that, we are also protecting Europe. Maybe there are some in Europe who don’t understand this, but Viktor Orbán understands this.”
Indeed, wrote JNS Jerusalem Bureau Chief Alex Traiman, a member of the media delegation that traveled with Netanyahu to Hungary, “Orbán has systematically stood up against European Union policies that have sought to reduce the national cultures and policies of disparate European nations in favor of policies selected for them by a continental elite sitting in Brussels and other Western European capitals. In particular, Orbán has thoroughly rejected the policies of forced Muslim immigration that are devastating European countries that opened their borders.”
It is thus, explained Traiman, that Hungary, “home to Europe’s third-largest Jewish community, is the safest country in Europe for Jewish residents and tourists.”
Yes, while the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre and the war in Gaza sparked by it unleashed an explosion of antisemitism across America and the European Union, Orbán’s Hungary doesn’t permit expressions of Jew-hatred to rear their head. It’s no wonder, then, that Netanyahu wasn’t “welcomed” by keffiyeh-clad protesters or Palestinian flags.
Budapest also blocked several anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations that other European member states were promoting, and enabled Israeli sports teams to host their international home matches in Hungary.
None of the above—or Orbán’s purported intention to move the Hungarian embassy to Jerusalem—makes a dent in the left’s dim view of him as an antisemitic autocrat who espouses what he termed an “illiberal democracy.”
But, of course, any world leader with whom Netanyahu has genuinely warm relations is fair game for denigration by the progressive Israeli punditocracy. And Hungary is among the protest movement’s favorite examples to highlight when warning about what Israel will look like if the government succeeds at reforming the country’s judicial system.
How ironic it is that Orbán earned his reputation from the left for his tough stance against the kind of immigration that is turning Western Europe into a breeding ground for radical Islamist terrorism. In a post-Oct. 7 reality, genuinely liberal Israelis—of all people—should grasp the wisdom of his ways. Or at least understand the source of his electoral longevity.
Fat chance of any such lightbulb moment. Particularly among those whose knee-jerk reaction to a meaningful leadership summit was to accuse Netanyahu of abandoning his war-torn nation to indulge in a romantic getaway with his spouse.
“What are you talking about?” I responded to the friend who phoned to kvetch about Bibi’s anniversary plans. “He’s going to Hungary to see Orbán!”
The second that these words left my lips, I realized how stupid it was for me to have imagined that the real reason for Netanyahu’s four-day trek would sound any better to the ears of his belittlers. Thankfully, the policy-makers who count aren’t listening.