Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the Hungarian government stands with Israel and "we want to see Europe standing up and recognising the right of Israel to protect itself."
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post published on Friday, the foreign minister said Hungary considers the Israeli army’s military campaign against Hamas an anti-terror operation, the success of which is in the interest of not just Israel, but the entire world. Hungary, he said, was one of the countries to object to South Africa’s petition accusing Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip in front of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. He said the accusation was “nonsense”, adding that Hungary stood by Israel against any “unbalanced and unfair” international action. Minister Szijjártó said four Hungarian-Israeli citizens were among those taken hostage on October 7, and one died in the attack. Three of them have since been released, but a father of two is still being held in Gaza, he added. Meanwhile, Minister Szijjártó said Hungary was among the countries opposing EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s proposed resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. EU-Israel ties should not be contingent on a two-state solution, he said, arguing that Israel is only one party in the conflict which it cannot resolve on its own.