Will Hungary Move Its Israeli Embassy to Jerusalem?

Rumors have been swirling that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will move his country’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. On March 3, the Times of Israel, citing anonymous sources in Israel’s Foreign Ministry, claimed Orbán’s plan is to give his ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a diplomatic win amid his controversial battle to reform Israel’s Supreme Court.

Bold moves: Only a few countries have their embassies in Jerusalem: the United States, Guatemala, Honduras and Kosovo. Due to Palestinian claims on the city, the rest of the world has embassies in Tel Aviv. If Hungary moves its embassy to Jerusalem, it would be the first to do so from the European Union.

The Hungarian Foreign Ministry neither confirmed nor denied the move. Hungarian President Katalin Novák said that “a decision has not yet been made.” But according to Politico, “a person familiar with the plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the move, confirmed that the switch will happen.” The move is reportedly planned for some time in April.

Brussels not pleased: Peter Stano, the European Commission’s foreign-policy spokesman, said Brussels was not informed of Orbán’s intentions. He said at a March 3 press conference:

We recall [United Nations] Security Council resolution 478 of 1980, which called on all UN members to withdraw their diplomatic missions to Israel from Jerusalem. All EU member states embassies as well as the EU Delegation to Israel are located in Tel Aviv.

Natural allies? Orbán and Netanyahu are in many ways natural partners. Both have been in office for over 15 years. Both want to beef up their nations’ security and increase religious influence in the state. Both are conservative populists unpopular with the international community. And both are looking for like-minded friends to support each other.

But the societies Orbán and Netanyahu are building have fundamentally different foundations. Netanyahu’s main goal throughout his time in politics has been to build a strong and secure Jewish state safe from its neighbors. Orbán meanwhile looks back at Hungary’s role in the Habsburg realm as an inspiration. The Habsburgs were an Austrian-based dynasty that ruled, among other territories, the Holy Roman Empire—a Catholic-led European superpower that persecuted the Jews.

The future: The Holy Roman Empire has, for centuries, been the Jewish people’s perennial enemy. Countries trying to revive its legacy today won’t stay “Judeophiles” for long. The Israeli government trusts figures like Orbán to its peril. To learn more, read “The Strongman, the Pontiff and the Ancient Empire.”