Hungarian Conservative

‘His holocaust-survivor grandfather highlighted that he should kiss his weapon as now, unlike during the Holocaust, the Jewish people have the privilege from God to defend themselves. This is why, as Dr Ansbacher explained, when Hamas invaded Israel, they didn’t find helpless Jewish people, but thousands of strong soldiers, police officers, Special Forces, and also regular people who were able to defend themselves.’

In an official statement of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Hungarian government expressed its disagreement with the recent findings of the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, according to which Israel’s presence in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem is ‘unlawful’, while Israel’s ‘policies and practices’ in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, including ‘the maintenance and expansion of settlements’, amount to the ‘annexation of large parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.’

The level of escalation in the Middle East has risen significantly after Israel struck a Houthi-controlled port in Yemen over the weekend, marking the first such attack since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out last October. The retaliatory strike follows a deadly drone attack by the Yemeni Houthis on Tel Aviv.

‘An important element of Viktor Orbán’s governance is that he knows Hungarian history and has learned from its mistakes. He does not want to repeat the sins committed by the historic Hungarian state during the 20th century. Hungary’s vision has thus not been blinded by the anti-Zionism of woke ideology, and it is able to recognize that Israel is the bastion of democracy and human rights in the Middle East, while successfully holding on to its religious and national traditions.’

As Itamar Eichner phrased in his Ynet News article, ‘Without the opposition from Israel’s friends in the EU, such as Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Germany, the EU might have already passed sanctions against Israel. Foreign policy decisions in the EU require consensus, which Israel’s allies prevent.’

The Metrodome Group, active in the Budapest real estate market since 1996, is opening its first representative office in Israel to offer investment opportunities in the Hungarian capital to Israeli investors. Among the many positive arguments in favour of Budapest, one that stands out is that Hungary remains one of the safest countries for the Jewish community in Europe.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has allegedly instructed his three ministers to examine the consequences of leaving the International Criminal Court (ICC), with a particular focus on the implications for the European Union. This decision is likely prompted by the ICC Chief Prosecutor’s request in May for the issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

‘Incidentally, Netanyahu’s failure is not because the Biden administration is withholding weapons. The heart of the issue is the Islamic indoctrination of Palestinian Muslims. Just like organized crime in southern Italy, whether it is called the Mafia or the ‘Ndrangheta, capturing and imprisoning the militants or killing them will not end Hamas.’

The updated test will now include questions covering topics regarding the Holocaust, Jewish culture, and the state of Israel. This initiative, part of a broader revision of the citizenship test, aims to ensure that applicants have a comprehensive understanding of Germany’s complex history and its stance on Israel.

Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah threatens to use Syrian refugees as a political weapon while also warning Cyprus of a possible attack if the island nation assists Israel militarily. The group’s ability to manipulate refugee flows and its readiness to use military force against EU member states necessitate an effective and coordinated response from the European Union.

Pro-Palestinian gender studies students disrupted the graduation ceremony of the Central European University (CEU) in Vienna. The students accused the university administration of supporting the genocide allegedly perpetrated by Israel. These events mirrored the pro-Palestinian protests observed on US campuses.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel Israel Katz visited Hungary recently for the first time since he took up office. He met with President of Hungary Tamás Sulyok, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, and the leaders of the Hungarian Jewish communities. The main aim of the visit was to determine, with Hungary soon taking over the presidency of the EU, how Budapest and the Union would take action against anti-Israel efforts in the next six months.

Péter Szijjártó held a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz this Monday, where they discussed the horrific attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas on 7 October 2023, as well as the subsequent increase in antisemitism in the West.

Hungary are going to their unprecedented third consecutive European Championship after an unbeaten qualifying campaign. They are regarded as the clear underdogs against Germany, the slight underdogs against Switzerland, and the slight favourites against Scotland in their group by bookmakers. Meanwhile, England have the best chance of winning the tournament according to the bookies, ahead of teams such as France, Spain, and hosts Germany.

‘It’s really important to understand that we’re not operating military to military with ground rules and understanding of military bases in uniform as these terrorists are not wearing uniforms and are embedding themselves in schools, hospitals, public areas, kindergartens, homes, hiding weapons in those areas, making themselves and the people around them targets. So it’s a very, very complex situation to fight in. Secondly, I think that Israel understands not only the humane side but also that it’s important to allow more and more humanitarian aid to enter because our goal is to eliminate Hamas and not to harm the people of Gaza,’ IDF Staff Sergeant Nicki told Hungarian Conservative in a recent interview.

‘The HAIKU states present a novel approach to exploring and understanding how statesmen and national leaders can navigate a dynamically changing global political landscape, marked by shifts in power balances, evolving alliances, and heightened strategic competition.’

‘Everybody’s awoken now, and they are angry, very angry. And that really is what is meant by the end of the innocence. Because before then, even though we knew there was antisemitism, and even though we knew Hamas was a threat, no one understood its severity,’ Avi Benlolo of The Abraham Global Peace Initiative told us in an exclusive interview after the screening of his short documentary The End of the Innocence about the Hamas attacks.

‘States are free to reject decisions or judgements that are inconsistent with the treaties they signed,’ Senior Research Fellow at the European Centre for Law and Justice Nicolas Bauer told Hungarian Conservative.

Avi Benlolo of The Abraham Global Peace Initiative directed the film which showcases the terror of the villains, and the bravery of the heroes of the fateful 7 October attacks. Before the screening, distinguished guests, such as Israeli Ambassador to Hungary Yacov Hadas-Handelsman made short speeches.

On 21 May, pro-Palestinian individuals aggressively disrupted an even at the Danube Institute. However, they failed to silence the Israeli representatives who came to Hungary to bear witness to the brutality of Hamas on 7 October. What they managed to do, however, was to illustrate a crucial difference between the two sides: while Israeli advocates presented their arguments intelligently and peacefully, related their painful experiences, and even when they were shouted at answered questions, the Palestinian protesters had no substantive arguments; instead, they shouted antisemitic slogans full of hatred, and in a deeply disrespectful manner, tried to do everything to silence the Israelis and those who support them.

For reasons unknown, the Facebook page of the Hungarian pro-Israel news website Neokohn.hu was banned by Meta on Sunday. EMIH Chief Rabbi Slomó Köves’ page was also removed. Both pages have since been restored, but the incidents are quite troubling, considering the that the bans appear to have had no basis whatsoever.

‘Being a conservative in Berkeley is like you’re surrounded by Marxists. I think sometimes Hungary feels the same, surrounded by these European progressive elites,’ John Yoo, former US government official and Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley stated in an interview with Hungarian Conservative.

On the first day of the Rule of Law as Lawfare Conference experts such as Minister of European Union Affairs János Bóka of Hungary and MEP Ryszard Legutko of Poland discussed how the legal concept of the rule of law has been turned into a political weapon by EU bodies, and analysed the double standards applied to different Member States with rule of law assessment procedures.

At the weekly government press briefing last week the Hungarian PM’s chief of staff, Minister Gergely Gulyás stated that Hungary would not enforce the ICC arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu. He declared that it is not appropriate to use a court as a political tool, and it should be remembered that the ‘utterly ruthless, disgraceful and despicable terrorist attack’ suffered by Israel was the root cause of everything that is happening in the Gaza Strip.

Foreign pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupted a conference in Budapest on Tuesday where Israel’s ambassador to Hungary Jakov Hadas-Handelsman was also speaking. At around the same time, anti-Israel graffiti flooded the Hungarian capital. For many months, such phenomena were unknown in Hungary, but now it seems that the conflict and hatred are being imported from abroad.

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has sought arrest warrants for several leading Israeli politicians and members of the Hamas political leadership, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Allies of Israel, led by Viktor Orbán and Joe Biden, have described the prosecutor’s decision on the Jewish state’s leadership as absurd and shameful.

Ebrahim Raisi, the Iranian President and a potential successor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, were reported dead following a helicopter crash in the northern area of the country on Sunday. The European Union, China, and Russia have already expressed their condolences, while the United States had remained silent at the time of writing. Israeli officials stated that the Jewish state was not involved in Raisi’s death.

Lieutenant Colonel Shoshani pointed out that ‘in this horrible reality, even though we showed evidence of the barbaric sexual violence by Hamas on 7 October, the world still doesn’t believe it happened,’ which demonstrates how people tend to believe only what they want to, even when presented with facts.

‘Clearly, music in itself wasn’t “diverse” enough. The music, songs and dances of nearly fifty countries and even more ethnic groups, languages and cultures were not sufficiently diverse. No! Give us drag queens! Make it colourful, smelly, and sexualized, with a hint of antisemitism, and children will love it! Let’s brainwash them and shout to the world: this is Europe!’

‘The progressive side has created a “Jewish question”. The left has discovered the concept of race, merged it with other dimensions of oppression (class, gender), and now they have made the Jews into a new oppressive caste alongside Christian Protestants. After 1967 they focused only on “Zionists” and “Israelis”; now the Jews of the diaspora are the opponents. They don’t even hide their intentions, attacking synagogues, looking for “enemies” who “look Jewish” in the classrooms and in the corridors. The attacks have nothing to do with Israel: they are intended to intimidate the Jewish American community.’