Hungarian lawmakers pay solidarity visit to Israel

Two lawmakers of the Hungarian parliament paid a visit to Israel to express solidarity and sympathy and further strengthen relations, they told MTI by phone.

János Fónagy, a lawmaker of ruling Fidesz who serves as the head of the Hungarian-Israeli Friendship Society, and István Hiller, of the opposition Socialists, met Amir Ohana, the Speaker of the Israeli parliament, Amichai Chikli, Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Ambassador Aliza Bin-Noun, Head of the Political Bureau in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Israel Eichler, president of the Friendship Society and its members.

Fónagy said they also paid a visit to the border of Gaza and the site of the kibbutz that was destroyed in last October’s terrorist attack.

Fónagy and Hiller said they were received with a friendly welcome and the Israeli partners expressed thanks to Hungary, the Hungarian government and Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó for standing up for Israel.

The two lawmakers also visited the Hungarian embassy where they were briefed in detail about “the enormous efforts” the ambassador and the embassy staff made and continues to make for Hungarian citizens, said Hiller. He called the embassy’s performance “exemplary”, noting the embassy’s ongoing efforts to evacuate a Hungarian citizen from Gaza.

Hiller said they had also visited Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre, where the museum’s management informed them about the planned continuation of educational and professional programmes as soon as the security situation so allowed. He said that 30 history teachers from Hungarian secondary schools attended each year the museum’s education programme focusing on teaching and researching the Holocaust.

In Yad Vashem, the two lawmakers laid a wreath on behalf of the Hungarian parliament in the Hall of Remembrance.

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Source: MTI