The president of Mazsihisz discussed with the politicians in the Knesset

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