Netanyahu concludes three day visit to Budapest
July 21st, 2017A liberal analyst believes that the Israeli Prime Minister came to Hungary to seek new allies within the European Union, while a conservative commentator hopes that his visit will help eradicate the remaining traces of anti-Semitism among Hungarian right-wingers.
In Népszava, István Szent-Iványi who served as Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs in the last left-liberal government, suspects strategic reasons behind Mr Netanyahu’s unusually long visit to Hungary. With Brexit, he explains, Israel is losing her staunchest ally within the European Union. On the other hand the V4 countries have never joined the choir of Israel’s critics in Brussels and therefore may become Israel’s new allies in place of Great Britain, the liberal expert believes.
Mandiner ’s Gergely Szilvay hopes that the sight of so many Israeli flags on the streets and squares of Budapest will help eradicate the remnants of knee-jerk anti-Semitism within the Hungarian Right. He sees the meeting between the right-wing leaders of the two countries as proof that there is no reason for Hungarian right-wingers to be confrontational towards Israel. Szilvay thinks the bilateral summit was a spectacular success – all the more so since the two sides have many interests in common.c
Tags: anti-Semitism, Brexit, Netanyahu