A Hungarian delegation visited Israel earlier this week. In addition to discussing political issues, the officials also found time for a spiritual experience while touring a major yeshiva and synagogue in Jerusalem.
On Monday, Amichai Chikli (Likud), Israel’s Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister, met with Miklos Soltesz, Hungary’s Minister for Churches, Minorities and Civil Affairs, in Jerusalem to request that his government help Israel by working to stop European Union funding of anti-Israel Palestinian NGOs.
Soltesz is the current Hungarian Secretary of State for Churches, Minorities, and Civil Affairs serving under Prime Minister Viktor Orban as the representative of the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP).
J-Post reported that Chikli also thanked Soltesz for Hungary’s support of Israel. The two then discussed the rise of antisemitism. Hungary has instituted many constitutional changes in recent years to combat antisemitism.
Soltesz invited Chikli to visit Hungary.
Rabbi Shlomó Köves, Chief Rabbi of the Hungarian Jewish Association (EMIH) participated in the meeting and accompanied Soltesz during his visit. Chikli thanked both men for establishing Machne Chabad, a refugee camp that has provided aid to over a thousand Ukrainian Jews displaced by the war.
Yeshiva World News reported that Soltesz and his deputy minister, Dr. Papp László, visited the Belz Great Synagogue, one of the largest synagogues in Israel. They were accompanied by Rabbi Köves and Yisrael Eichler, a Member of the Knesset for the United Torah Judaism party. During the visit, the deputy minister reportedly read psalms.
The Hungarian delegation then went to the home of Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach, the leader of the Hasidic dynasty of Belz. They discussed the condition of the religious freedom of the Jews in Hungary, including shechita (kosher slaughtering) and brit milah (circumcision).
Soltesz told the rabbi that as a Christian, he has a deep belief in God. At the end of the visit, he asked the Rebbe for a blessing.
