Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó described a clear, values-based connection between his country and Israel in recent statements, drawing Israel into an international coalition of disgruntled conservative governments that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embraces but his partners find uncomfortable.
In May, Szijjártó said both governments “are founded on patriotic, national values” and “share a common standpoint with relation to retaining identity and the importance of sovereignty and security, as well as with respect to the need to take action against illegal migration.”
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Monday, he said: “[US President Donald] Trump says, America first. We in Hungary say Hungary first and we understand well when Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu says Israel first.”
Ironically, it was Netanyahu’s more liberal coalition partner, Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz’s Blue and White, that ran with the slogan “Israel before all.”
Regardless, Szijjártó identified the Israeli government and the Viktor Orban-led Hungarian government, along with the Trump administration, as “governments running patriotic policies, totally opposite of the liberal mainstream.”
As such, the Hungarian foreign minister said earlier Monday, when making statements to the press with his Israeli counterpart Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, that “if there were a competition among countries of who is most attacked by the world media, Israel and Hungary would be among the top three for sure.”
When it comes to remarks like these, it seems that – like on so many other issues – the unity government is split.
Ashkenazi certainly was friendly to Szijjártó in their meeting and public statements. He even invited him to Israel when they first spoke in May.
But the remarks about retaining identity and keeping migrants out that came right after the call were the first controversy Ashkenazi has faced as foreign minister. Originally, the Hungarian readout of the call attributed those statements to both foreign ministers.
Ashkenazi’s office then took pains to release a statement that had nothing to do with those matters, distancing itself from the remarks. A source close to Ashkenazi said at the time that he did not say any of those things, but they were wary of making a big fuss about it.
The Hungarian Foreign Ministry later corrected its readout, saying the mistaken attribution was due to a mistranslation from Hungarian into English.
AS ISRAEL'S top diplomat, Ashkenazi – or at least the people advising him – are aware of those “attacks” that Szijjártó referred to: that Hungary is often described as a democracy in decline and viewed as illiberal by many of its fellow EU member states and beyond.
Describing Israel as sharing values of “retaining identity and the importance of sovereignty and security” that the Hungarian foreign minister described, could be seen as saying Israel is also less democratic than it once was.
And when Israel describes itself as having shared values with the US, it’s generally referring to democracy and freedom, not the “America first” slogan that Budapest's foreign minister pinned on Israel.
Maya Sion-Tzidkiyahu of the left-leaning Mitvim Institute for Regional Foreign Policy made comments in this vein before Szijjártó arrived, wondering: “How appropriate is it for Israel to have such tight and close ties with a country that, following illiberal changes led by its prime minister, Viktor Orban, is no longer considered a democratic country?”
On the other side of this is Netanyahu, who has long embraced Orban’s Hungary as a strategic partner for Israel.
Netanyahu also faces criticism from the Left in Israel and beyond, that he has weakened Israel’s democratic institutions. This criticism is, in many cases, substantively different from that of Orban, since much of it is based on complaints about rhetoric – such as his frequent, vocal laments about the authorities’ handling of his corruption trial, which is still ongoing without any actual obstruction – rather than any actual actions that made Israel less democratic.
IN ANY CASE, Szijjártó’s defense of his country against claims of anti-democratic actions, in his interview with the Post, sounds familiar to those following Israeli politics: “If we had not acted according to the will of the people, we wouldn’t have been reelected. The fact that we have been in office for 11 continuous years now: We didn’t win it in the lottery. The authorization was given to us by the people," he said.
"One might not like what we do politically... I accept that there are different kinds of positions. But one thing must not be said: that it’s not democratic. It is democratic because it was based on the will of the people.”
The Hungarian foreign minister also lamented liberal media bias, something that Netanyahu often does on his social media accounts.
And Netanyahu and Orban also share a bogeyman, along with Trump and many populist right-wing politicians around the world: George Soros. The billionaire’s Open Society Foundation supports liberal causes in Hungary and Israel, though he has poured far more funding into NGOs in the former.
Sion-Tzidkiyahu described Israel’s position of fostering close ties with Budapest as "realism," pointing out that Hungary helps Israel by vetoing EU statements that are critical of the Jewish state.
Hungary is also one of eight countries that have come to Israel's defense in the International Criminal Court.
Szijjártó has repeatedly said over the years that Hungary will stand with Israel in international organizations, and that his country can relate to the “bias” the world has against the Jewish state.
But the affinity between Netanyahu and his Hungarian counterpart seems to go beyond that realism, though it certainly is a major factor.
Netanyahu is clearly comfortable in this international coalition of disgruntled conservatives, which emphasizes railing against the Left at home and abroad. The rhetoric of being put-upon – even though both Netanyahu and Orban have been in power for more than a consecutive decade – is the same even if the policies are not.