Hungary–Israel Relations

The relationship has passed through three broad phases: early diplomatic and commercial cooperation, a rupture shaped by Hungary’s place in the Soviet bloc, and renewed ties after 1989. Even while formal relations were suspended, trade and contacts through Hungary’s Jewish community continued at reduced levels. Their persistence helped provide a basis for the rapid expansion of relations after communist rule ended.[1][3]

Since restoration, the countries have developed economic, cultural, scientific, security, and diplomatic links. Hungary has frequently supported Israel within the European Union and other international institutions, particularly under Viktor Orbán, although it has not adopted Israel’s position on every issue. The relationship has also remained connected to debates inside Hungary over antisemitism, Holocaust remembrance, and the treatment of Jewish historical memory.[4][6]

Hungary recognized Israel and established diplomatic relations in 1948, while the Hungarian government supported Israel during the War of Independence. Many Hungarian Jews immigrated to Israel after World War II. Under communist rule, however, Hungary opposed Zionism and restricted large-scale emigration; a 1949 agreement allowed 3,000 Jews to settle in Israel, after which emigration was generally limited to a small trickle.[1] Hungary opened its first foreign mission in Tel Aviv in June 1950.[7]

After the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Israel was among the first governments to recognize the Kádár regime. The two countries restored ambassador-level relations, and Hungary sought to expand trade. Their negotiations linked economic relations with Jewish emigration. In a January 12, 1957, letter, Hungary’s chargé d’affaires in Tel Aviv wrote that a more permissive approach to larger-scale emigration would be significant for economic relations.[7]

On September 22, 1958, the two sides agreed that Israel would transfer $1.5 million to Hungary’s National Bank in four installments while Hungary resumed authorizing emigration to Israel. The agreement’s implementation became contentious: Israeli representatives argued that Hungary had not authorized emigration on the expected scale, while Hungarian officials denied exchanging permission to emigrate for economic benefits.[7]

By the mid-1960s, Hungarian officials were weighing expanded trade, cultural contacts, and transport links with Israel against possible reactions from Arab states and other communist governments. A February 1967 foreign-affairs document recorded bilateral trade of $7 million in 1966 and projected $8.5 million for 1967. A separate reference account gives a figure of $26 million before the diplomatic rupture without specifying the year measured.[7][1]

Hungary severed diplomatic relations with Israel on June 12, 1967, in coordination with other socialist states. A 1983 Hungarian Political Committee resolution characterized the Six-Day War using the government’s language of Israeli “aggression,” rather than a neutral description. The break followed Moscow’s lead; one contemporary analysis attributes Soviet pressure to concern about Arab anger and a desire to strengthen Soviet influence in the Arab world while weakening Israel’s relationship with the United States.[7][2]

The rupture reduced cultural, sporting, economic, and travel contacts but did not eliminate them. Sweden represented Hungarian interests in Israel, and Switzerland represented Israeli interests in Hungary. Trade continued under an annually renewed agreement, with the 1983 resolution recording values of $7.2 million in 1980 and $9.5 million in 1981. Another account gives 1980 Israeli exports to Hungary of $2.7 million and Hungarian exports to Israel of $11 million.[7][1]

Relations began improving during the 1980s. In 1983, Hungary’s Political Committee supported revitalizing ties partly for anticipated economic benefits. Secret talks began in spring 1987, and on September 14 the governments exchanged notes concerning interest-representation offices intended to promote economic, cultural, trade, and humanitarian relations.[7]

Hungary and Israel signed an agreement restoring full diplomatic relations on September 14, 1989. Hungary became the first Warsaw Pact country to take that step, signaling a more independent foreign policy as the communist system weakened.[2][8] Hungarian negotiator János Görög later recalled that, despite fears of an Arab economic response, Hungary’s trade with Arab countries increased by 15 percent in the following year.[7]

The political transition also lifted restrictions on Hungarian Jews’ connections with Israel. A Hungary–Israel Friendship Association founded in December 1988 organized a Yom HaAtzmaut celebration in May 1989 and a November commemoration of 45 years since the execution of Hanna Szenes. Senior Hungarian officials attended both events, and a 1990 report described restored diplomatic relations as a major boost to Jewish self-identification in Hungary.[9]

Restoration was followed by high-level visits and practical cooperation. Between 1990 and 1992, Hungarian President Árpád Göncz, Prime Minister József Antall, and Foreign Minister Géza Jeszenszky visited Israel, while Israeli President Chaim Herzog visited Budapest. Hungary also assisted Soviet Jewish immigrants transiting through Budapest. In 1992, terrorists attacked a bus carrying immigrants; the passengers were unharmed, while two Hungarian police officers were wounded.[1]

Under Orbán, Hungary frequently supported Israel in international forums and opposed some European Union initiatives critical of Israeli policy. Benjamin Netanyahu visited Budapest on July 17–18, 2017, for a Visegrád Group summit involving Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. He was the first Israeli prime minister to visit Hungary since full relations were restored in 1989.[10][6] A broader analysis describes increasingly shared views and economic cooperation between Israel and the Visegrád countries from 2017, while addressing the group collectively rather than Hungary alone.[11]

Historical memory and antisemitism were prominent during the visit. Orbán acknowledged that Hungary’s failure to protect its Jewish citizens during World War II was a crime, called collaboration with Nazi Germany a sin, and reiterated a policy of zero tolerance for antisemitism. Hungarian Jewish community president András Heisler welcomed those remarks but warned that “two-faced assessments of the Holocaust” persisted. Jewish organizations had also criticized Orbán’s praise of wartime regent Miklós Horthy, who signed anti-Jewish laws.[12]

The visit coincided with controversy over Hungary’s campaign against George Soros. Posters bearing the caption “Let’s not let Soros have the last laugh” were criticized by Heisler and Jewish organizations for antisemitic undertones. The World Jewish Congress reported antisemitic graffiti and vandalism after the posters appeared. Hungary said the campaign was ending as scheduled rather than because of Netanyahu’s visit; Israel’s ambassador denounced the campaign, while Netanyahu’s office separately denounced Soros.[13][10]

Orbán made his first visit to Israel as prime minister in July 2018. During the three-day trip, he met Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin, and Chief Rabbi David Lau and visited Yad Vashem. Orbán described bilateral relations as excellent and connected them to shared views on security and border protection; Netanyahu cited cooperation in economics, trade, tourism, and security.[14][15] Hungary had helped block measures in Brussels that Israel considered anti-Israeli, including an EU decision condemning the United States’ embassy move to Jerusalem. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó nevertheless said Hungary had no plans to move its own embassy.[14][16]

Hungary’s voting record has reflected support without complete alignment. On 15 roll-call Israel-related UN General Assembly votes in 2024, its voting coincidence with the United States was 63 percent: eight votes were the same, four opposite, and three partially aligned. Hungary voted against seven of the resolutions. The figure compares Hungary with the United States, not directly with Israel.[17]

Academic and policy analyses offer differing interpretations of this cooperation. One contribution argues that Netanyahu pursued a populist, Eurosceptic course and used relations with the Visegrád countries and other Eastern European states to influence EU foreign policy.[18] An INSS analysis describes ties with Orbán’s government as warm while criticizing its treatment of minorities and restrictions on press freedom; these are the authors’ interpretations rather than uncontested descriptions of bilateral policy.[19]

Hungarian leaders strongly supported Israel after the Hamas-led terrorist attack of October 7, 2023. Orbán condemned the attack and affirmed Israel’s right to self-defense, while Hungarian officials reported that Szijjártó had reiterated that support to his Israeli counterpart.[20] An INSS analysis published in 2025 described Hungary and the Czech Republic as continuing to express strong support for Israel a year later. It also noted that Hungarian EU Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi announced that aid to Palestinians would be cut, after which the European Commission clarified that payments would be reviewed rather than terminated and later decided to continue and increase them.[21]

Trade and investment remained important even during the diplomatic rupture and expanded after 1989. Bilateral trade reached $154 million in 2001, consisting of $78 million in Israeli exports and $76 million in Hungarian exports. A reference account also reported $1.5 billion in Israeli investment in Hungary, about two-thirds in real estate, although it did not date that estimate.[1]

A 1997 free-trade agreement formed part of the renewed economic framework. In 2001, Hungary’s ambassador to Israel said trade had grown by 20–25 percent annually since the agreement and that accumulated Israeli corporate investment had reached $1.3 billion by the end of 2000. Industrial goods became duty-free under the agreement on January 1, 2001.[22]

Trade fell by 24 percent to $234 million in 2005, including $74 million in Israeli exports and $160 million in imports from Hungary. In 2006, the countries signed an economic cooperation agreement and a statement of intent on research-and-development cooperation. Identified opportunities included water, environmental projects, research and development, and venture capital.[23] By 2018, trade was reported at $525 million, while more than 200 Israeli companies employed 5,500 people in Hungary.[24]

Closer ties were also reflected in Hungary’s Jerusalem trade mission. Orbán announced in February 2019 that an office with diplomatic status would open there, and Szijjártó formally opened it in March. Netanyahu called it the first European diplomatic mission opened in Jerusalem in many decades. It remained a trade mission rather than an embassy; Hungary’s embassy remained in Tel Aviv.[25][6]

During Szijjártó’s 2020 visit to Israel, officials discussed COVID-19 cooperation and a planned space-research agreement. An Israeli official cited an Israeli-owned factory in Hungary producing ventilators as an example of practical cooperation.[26] Hungary also organized a Hungarian Culture Year in Israel in 2019 to mark 30 years since diplomatic relations were renewed. The eight-month program was planned to include around 20 productions and more than 1,000 guests through performances, food events, film screenings, and art exchanges.[27]

Jewish communal links remain another significant channel. The end of communist rule removed restrictions on Hungarian Jews’ connections with Israel, and the World Jewish Congress characterizes contemporary diplomatic relations as warm.[4] In March 2024, WJC Executive Vice President Maram Stern met Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, EU Affairs Minister János Bóka, and other officials before Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the European Union. The organization raised support for Jewish life, expressed appreciation for Hungary’s support for Israel and protection of Jewish citizens, and met leaders of the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities.[28]

Close state-to-state relations have coexisted with disputes over antisemitism and Holocaust remembrance. A study of the period records Israeli and Jewish communal concerns about attempts to rewrite Holocaust history, relativize Horthy’s role, and include openly antisemitic figures in Hungary’s historical pantheon.[3]

In June 2012, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin canceled a visit by Hungarian parliamentary speaker László Kövér after Kövér attended a memorial service for József Nyírő, whom the study identifies as a Nazi collaborator. Israel subsequently welcomed Hungarian government statements opposing antisemitism while urging further action.[3] Reporting surrounding Orbán’s 2018 visit again contrasted his praise of Horthy with his acknowledgment that Hungary had failed to protect its Jewish citizens and that wartime collaboration with Nazi Germany was a sin.[14]

Another dispute involved EU labeling guidelines for products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — and other territories captured in 1967. Hungary opposed the guidelines from the outset. In 2015, Szijjártó called the measure “an inefficient instrument” and “irrational,” arguing that it would cause damage rather than advance a solution to the Arab–Israeli conflict. The EU presented the guidelines as technical, while Israel regarded them as discriminatory and reflecting double standards.[5][3]

The International Criminal Court became a major issue after it issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on November 21, 2024. Orbán invited Netanyahu to Hungary, pledged to ensure his “safety and freedom,” and said the warrants would not be enforced there. Israel denied the allegations underlying the warrants, while the European Commission warned that disregarding them would breach international obligations.[6]

During Netanyahu’s visit to Budapest on April 3, 2025, Hungary announced that it would begin withdrawing from the ICC. The withdrawal process required written notice to the UN secretary-general and at least a year before taking effect; legal experts cited in reporting considered Hungary bound by its existing obligations during that period.[29] Hungary later withdrew its stated intention to leave the Court on May 22, 2026, although the available reference account does not explain the full procedural sequence.[6]

After replacing Orbán, Prime Minister Péter Magyar said Hungary would seek to rejoin the ICC. He nevertheless described the relationship with Israel as special and pragmatic and called Israel an important economic partner. Magyar said future EU decisions involving Israel would be evaluated individually according to Hungary’s interests rather than automatically blocked.[30]

High-level contact continued through Hungary’s 2026 political transition. In April, Netanyahu and Magyar held an introductory conversation in which Magyar invited Netanyahu to Budapest for a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising, while Netanyahu invited Magyar to Jerusalem.[6] During Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s October visit to Budapest, Magyar and Herzog agreed to strengthen historical, cultural, economic, and defense ties, and Magyar accepted an invitation to visit Israel.[6]

Herzog also met Hungarian President András Baka on October 20, 2026. Baka described relations as cordial and stable, called Israel an important economic partner, and affirmed Hungary’s zero-tolerance policy toward antisemitism. Herzog praised Hungary’s role in promoting balanced Israel–EU relations and referred to the destruction of Hungarian Jewish communities during the Holocaust.[31]

Baka also emphasized that international humanitarian law should be respected and that aid should enter Gaza safely and without obstruction. He expressed hope that Israelis and Palestinians could live with security and dignity. The meetings addressed bilateral cooperation and the fight against antisemitism while illustrating differences in emphasis over the Gaza war and international law.[31][32]

The relationship therefore rests on durable diplomatic, commercial, cultural, and Jewish communal ties but remains sensitive to changes in Hungarian politics and EU policy. Magyar has pledged pragmatic cooperation while signaling a less automatic approach to Israel-related EU decisions than Orbán’s government. Disputes over antisemitism, historical memory, and international courts consequently remain part of the relationship’s public context.[28][30]