Netanyahu visits Budapest
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is visitingBudapest, Hungary, where he will meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and ministers in his government.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara arrive at Budapest Photo: Haim Zac/GPO
They will sign a bilateral culture agreement and declarations of intent regarding cooperation in innovation and technology.
The culture agreement will enable reciprocal financing of cultural appearances. Dozens of Israeli shows take place annually in Hungary via the existing culture agreement and dozens more will be added, thanks to the new one, thus allowing additional artists and directors – inter alia – to go to Hungary and expose Hungarian audiences to Israeli culture.
The declaration of intent regarding innovation and technology will lead to close cooperation between the Israel Innovation Authority and its Hungarian counterparts and advance Israeli-Hungarian start-ups. The goal of the agreement is to promote cooperation between the governments including in the private sector with emphasis on high-tech, autonomous vehicles and new technologies.
Prime Minister Netanyahu will also meet with Hungarian President Janos Ader in the presidential palace and address a meeting of the heads of government of the Visegrad Group. He will also hold individual working meetings with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Prime Minister Netanyahu and Hungarian Prime Minister Orban will attend a special economic forum with representatives of dozens of Israeli companies and over 100 Hungarian companies in order to strengthen economic relations. Participating companies include those from the cyber, high-tech, agriculture, pharmaceutical and technology sectors.
Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife Sara, along with Hungarian Prime Minister Orban, will visit the Dohany Street Great Synagogue and meet with Jewish community leaders.
This is the first visit by a sitting Israeli Prime Minister to Hungary since the resumption of diplomatic relations.
I am saddened and extremely disappointed in Mr. Netanyahu and his advisors, who in-spite the warnings and pleas went ahead with this visit. In my own small way I tried to influence the decision makers why this visit is a grave mistake, alas without result. The State of Israel has nothing to gain from a semi-Fascist regime like Orban’s, but has a lot to lose. We know that Israel in not equal to Mr. Netanyahu, just like Hungary is not represented by the Orban regime. This visit will haunt Mr. Netanyahu for many years to come and instead of helping the Jewish Hungarians it reinforces the hold on Hungary of an anti-Semitic regime… Shame, shame and more shame!!! Below is letter I sent to Mr. Netanyahu via the Jerusalem Post and the Israeli Ambassador in Budapest.
Dear Mr. Netanyahu,
I am a Hungarian Jew, having no special social or professional position. I was a staunch defender of you and the State of Israel through thick and thin during my whole life. And I am still a loyal and faithful defender of Israel, in-spite that some of the policies of the government of Israel elude me. As a Jew and expatriate Israeli citizen, I will continue my unwavering support in any ways I can for the people of and the State of Israel.
I was and I am still proud of the young soldier Benjamin Netanyahu, the defender of our people, the educated and eloquently spoken ex-diplomat and PM, but in the wake of your decision to pay an official visit to Hungary I cannot say the same about the Prime Minister of Israel of today.
I am not completely familiar with the nuances of the Israeli politics, but I am not blind either, and I am trying to get informed on a daily basis about everything that has anything to do with Israel. I do not know for certain how knowledgeable are you or your advisors about the policies of the Hungarian Government led by Mr. Orban in the past 7 years, but I cannot believe for a moment either that you or your advisors are not informed enough about the deeds of this regime.
It is not just about the regime’s relentless war against the EU and Mr. Soros. I myself deplore the way Mr. Soros is giving financial support to various BDS organisations and his political stand in relations to the Government of Israel. But most, if not all, the accusations made by the Orban regime and Orban himself are blatant lies in order to justify his own war against all those that oppose him that includes the majority of the Hungarian citizens, and has nothing to do with your upcoming visit.
Whilst the anti-Soros allegations by the Orban regime are completely untrue, this cannot be said about the regime’s shameless behaviour towards the Jews of today’s Hungary and those hundreds of thousands of Jewish victims sent to their deaths by the Horthy regime. The same Horthy who by Orban’s own words and definition was an exceptional statesman, and the same Horthy era Orban wants to and well on his way to revive. However, we, the descendents of those murdered Jews know better…
I must ask you not to be the first Israeli PM who will come for a State Visit to Hungary, especially not during the tenure of this regime. I am not alone in this opinion, as most of the Hungarian Jews and non-Jews who love freedom and justice share my belief. And thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Jews everywhere in the diaspora, as far as Australia, are of the same conviction.
Dear Mr. Netanyahu, please think over the immense harm your planned visit caused already and the damage it may cause further to you personally and to the State of Israel if your visit is not cancelled. The present Hungarian Government, the ruling FIDESZ party and Orban himself are loathed both inside and outside Hungary. Please don’t get fooled by the lies and deceptions of this Orwellian regime and don’t let your own good name and the reputation of the State of Israel get damaged by this visit!
Shalom,
David Sade