Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visits Western Wall
He is following in the footsteps of other important leaders who visited Judaism's holiest site before.
By JULIANE HELMHOLDUpdated: JULY 20, 2018 12:07Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visits the Western Wall as part of his trip to Israel(photo credit: HILEL MEIR/TPS)
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, accompanied by his wife, visited the Western Wall on Friday morning, ending his two-day trip to Israel.He followed in the footsteps of US President Donald Trump, US Vice President Mike Pence and Prince William, who did the exact same thing before him.Upon his arrival to the holy site, Director of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation Mordechai Eliav talked to the Hungarian prime minister about the historical longing of the Jews for Jerusalem throughout generations and the history of the ancient stones.The Rabbi of the Western Wall Shmuel Rabinowitz then recited Psalm 21 with Orban and blessed him that all his prayers might be accepted willingly.Orban, impressed by the last two days, noted that his visit to Israel was too short and that he would be happy to return for a more in-depth trip with his family.Hungary's controversial right-wing, anti-immigration prime minister arrived in Israel on Wednesday and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as President Reuven Rivlin on Thursday.Both, Rivlin and Netanyahu expressed appreciation for the Hungarian government's positive relationship with Israel.Rivlin also noted the expansion of bilateral relations in the fields of security, cyber technology and innovation coupled with government to government meetings on different levels.Commenting that last year Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first Israeli head of government to visit Hungary in the three decades since the resumption of diplomatic ties, Orban – the first Hungarian Prime Minister to visit Israel while in office – said that next year will mark the 30th anniversary of the renewal of ties, and hinted that there will be much to celebrate. He commented that it was an appropriate for him to be here during Israel’s 70th anniversary year.Greer Fay Cashman contributed to this report.
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