Dr.
Andor Grósz, the president of Mazsihisz on official visit to the Jewish State
until Friday this week had meetings in Jerusalem on Monday. The main purpose of
his visit is to express the sympathy of Hungarian Jewry for the victims of the massacre
on October 7, and to broaden and deepen the presence of Mazsihisz in Israeli
domestic politics.
An
ambassador, a party president, a minister, and a committee leader - the
Mazsihisz president had plenty of official meetings on Monday. Dr. Andor Grósz,
Tamás Hersch, member of the board of Mazsihisz, and András Ligeti, responsible
for community affairs of the World Jewish Congress in Europe, traveled to
Jerusalem to participate in the World Zionist Organization (WZO) conference on
Tuesday. In addition, meetings were scheduled in order to strengthen the
recognition of Mazsihisz in the highest circles of Israeli decisionmakers, both
in the government and in the opposition.
The first
meeting on Monday included an exchange of ideas with Zoltán Szentgyörgyi,
Hungary's ambassador to Israel, at the embassy's commercial office in
Jerusalem. The president of Mazsihisz outlined for the diplomat the main goals
of his current trip to Jerusalem: to strengthen the Federation’s relations with
Israel, to broaden the recognition of Mazsihisz among the leaders of political
life, and he also added that in marking of the 80th anniversary of the
Holocaust, he consider it appropriate to create productions that would be
realized in cooperation of Hungarian and Israeli cultural actors. The October
7th massacre and Hungary's continued support of Israel in international
diplomatic forums were discussed prominently at the meeting. It has been said
that the perception of Hungary in the Jewish State is very positive, precisely
because of the aforementioned stand in favor of Israel.
From
there, the journey led to the Knesset, the Israeli legislature, where the first
meeting took place with former minister Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the Yisrael
Beiteinu party. The talks were in Russian, as the politician was born in the
Soviet Union in 1958 and lived there until the age of 20, while dr. Andor Grósz
owes his knowledge of the Russian language to the fact that he obtained his
medical degree there.
The
right-wing Lieberman is one of the typical figures of Israeli politics, who has
led several portfolios, held the position of Deputy Prime Minister, and was
most recently Minister of Defense under Benjamin Netanyahu. According to
current surveys, his party is a significant factor, and if the elections were
held tomorrow, it could win up to ten mandates.
Dr.
Andor Grósz, Tamás Hersch and András Ligeti also met on Monday with Yuli-Yoel
Edelstein, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, who is so
widely popular in Israel and in the Likud that many saw/see him as Netanyahu's
successor. Like Lieberman, he made Aliyah from the Soviet Union (his ordeals
there deserve a separate novel), he was a minister in several governments, and
he also held twice the office of Speaker of the House.
Since
the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is considered a very important body
due to the ongoing war, various delegations follow each other in Edelstein's
office. It says a lot about his international political connections that,
according to the photos displayed in his office, he negotiated with George W.
Bush and Joe Biden, since as the speaker of the Knesset he hosted a great
number of foreign heads of state and prime ministers, from India to Germany and
to the United States. At the meeting, he gave a thorough summary of how the
great powers and the countries of the region relate to Israel and Israel's war.
Lunch for the army
from the Knesset
There are two
self-service restaurants in the Knesset building: one for visitors, one for
representatives and officials. The members of the Hungarian delegation had the
opportunity to look around in the latter as well, where the big shots of
Israeli politics such as Beni Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot were among those queuing
for lunch. Here we found out: fortunately, the remaining food does not end up
in the trash but is collected and taken to the soldiers fighting the
terrorists.
The
longest – and the most meaningful in terms of Mazsihisz's current affairs – was
the discussion with Minister Gideon Sa’ar. Along with Beni Gantz and Gadi
Eisenkot, he is the opposition politician who joined the government of national
unity created as a result of the war.
At the
meeting, Sa'ar showed a remarkably outstanding interest for Hungary and
Mazsihisz, and he also confirmed what Ambassador Szentgyörgyi said on Monday
morning: Hungary is highly respected for its committed pro-Israel policy.
Dr.
Andor Grósz informed his host that Mazsihisz would be happy to accommodate him,
to which Gideon Sa'ar responded that he definitely planned to visit Hungary
this year. One of the important results of the meeting was that the minister
and the president reviewed the ongoing projects in which Mazsihisz can count on
the support of its Israeli partners. In this regard, Gideon Sa'ar said that he
would use his political connections in order to make this support possible.
We will
continue to report on the programs of Dr. Andor Grósz and András Ligeti
throughout the week.
Cover
photo: the Knesset building in the evening light. Photos: Mazsihisz
