Politics, law, and familiarity can change cultures to be more welcoming to Jewish citizenry and visitors, with Hungary showing how certain policies can have a cascading effect on society, Rabbi Jonatan Megyeri, public relations director at the Association of Hungarian Jewish Communities (EMIH), explained to The Jerusalem Post in a conversation in Budapest.
Dozens of Hungarian Jews noted that Hungary, a country reckoning with Axis collaboration and Soviet Union influence, had a history of being far from hospitable to Jews despite once hosting a large Jewish community. A series of anti-Jewish racial disenfranchisement laws were passed by the Horthy regime, Holocaust deportations were conducted under the Nazi puppet regime, and under later communist rule, Zionism was banned, and Judaism was restricted. Jewish Hungarians described a culture that matched the political and legal persecution.
Megyeri said that while Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had been cast as an antisemite, autocrat, and chauvinist by his critics, when he came into power in 2010, he made major changes by passing laws creating “zero tolerance” for antisemitism.
“I believe there is no other country in Europe where they have such severe laws,” said Megyeri, adding that later the government passed laws against hate toward ethnicities and groups of people.
From an American or Anglo cultural perspective, Megyeri said that such legal restrictions may be seen as a limitation on free speech, but he argued that the new legal regime had to be seen in the context and historical perspective of Hungary.
At the same time as laws were being introduced, Orbán also cultivated a public friendship with his Israeli counterpart, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Megyeri said that the personal and political relationship between the two countries meant that the Hungarian public was cognizant of the frequent visits of Israeli officials.
The close ties forged by the government slowly penetrated the rest of society, said the EMIH official, because Orbán’s government has been in power for 15 years. With the government in power for so long, “political decisions could infiltrate the lower echelons of the public, and it could change the mentality or change the attitude of people slowly.”
A runaway effect
The result was a runaway effect, as the political relationships encouraged economic relationships, with Israeli investments into Hungary. The investments created shared goals, with Megyeri noting that Orbán had spoken about the potential for Hungary to learn about agriculture, hi-tech, and fintech from Israel.
Bringing Israeli businessmen into Hungary made the Israeli public more aware of the country, drawing tourism. Eventually, Hungary became one of the top destinations for Israeli tourists in Europe. Megyeri said that it was “amazing” that “more and more Israelis come here [Budapest] than to Rome or Paris or London or Berlin or any of the major flagship cities of Europe.”
Jewish visits to Hungary resulted in less antisemitism, according to Megyeri, because Hungarians started to get used to seeing Jews of different varieties, including many that were visibly Jewish. He added that Chabad had also opened its doors to Hungarians, showing the rest of the population what Judaism and Jewishness meant.
“People find it interesting, and people find it less scary,” said Megyeri. “You’re usually scared of something that you don’t know.”
He said that there were many reasons that close ties developed between Israel and Hungary, beyond the personal relationship of their longtime leaders. There were many Jews of Hungarian descent in Israel, many of whom had citizenship and the right to vote in Hungarian elections. Israel was also important to the large population of Jews living in Hungary.
Ideologically, Orbán sees kinship in Israel as a nation-state.
“He believes in nation-states, and Israel is the prime example of a nation-state,” said Megyeri. “Hungary is somewhat similar to Israel. Israel sits in the midst of Muslim countries, Arab countries. Hungary is an island in the midst of German and Slavic countries, a unique people, a unique language, similar to what Israel is.”
The EMIH has cautioned that antisemitism is not gone in Hungary, though it has significantly reduced. A European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) report last July found that in 2023, Hungarian Jews experienced one of the lowest levels of antisemitic harassment in a review of 13 states. Twenty-four percent of Hungarian Jews had experienced harassment in a 12-month period, compared to the average of 37%. Two percent experienced antisemitic violence in the same period, compared to the average of 4%.
Hungary was one of the three best-performing EU states when it came to not fearing wearing Jewish paraphernalia in public out of safety concerns. Fifty-two percent and 25% of respondents said that they occasionally avoided wearing symbols or never wore symbols as a safety strategy, respectively, compared to the 13-country average of 76% and 48%. Twelve percent of respondents said that they had experienced discrimination over a 12-month period, the third lowest among the 13 states.
The Action and Protection Foundation said in a 2024 analysis of the FRA data that Hungary had been one of the worst performers in terms of antisemitic harassment in 2013 but became one of the top performers by 2018. While 90% of Hungarian Jews saw antisemitism as a major problem in 2013, the concern had subsided by 13% within five years. The FRA said that 65% of respondents saw antisemitism as a problem in Hungary in 2023.