Logo
8 out of 11 Articles
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban

In Apparent Gesture to Netanyahu, Orban to Move Hungary’s Embassy to Jerusalem

Hungary will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem next month, apparently in a special gesture to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban.

The two reached an agreement on the matter in recent days, with the details hashed out during intensive talks between Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Hungary’s top diplomat Peter Szijjarto, senior Foreign Ministry officials told Israeli media on Friday, February 3.

Following the United States, several other countries have since moved their embassies to Jerusalem or announced their intention to do so, with Hungary now agreeing with Israel to transfer its embassy from Tel Aviv to the capital.

The move will make Hungary the first European Union member state to open an embassy in Jerusalem, which the bloc opposes in the absence of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Senior Foreign Ministry sources who confirmed the planned embassy transfer linked the move to Orban’s desire to help out Netanyahu, granting the premier a diplomatic achievement amid political instability over his government’s contentious plans to overhaul Israel’s judicial system. (TOI / VFI News)