Conference Summary – 28 March 2024
The conference organized by the International Centre for Development and Democratic Transition (ICDT) on 28 March 2024 was held in the Corner Room of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The conference consisted of two panels: “Jewish Life in Hungary” and “Hungary and Israel.”
The event was opened by Dr. István Gyarmati, President of the ICDT Foundation. Following the opening remarks, two keynote speakers took the floor. Dr. Zsolt Németh, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Hungarian Parliament, opened with a speech focusing on the cultural and strategic relations between the two countries. He was followed by Péter Sztáray, State Secretary for Security Policy and also Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, who delivered the second keynote. With these addresses concluded, the first panel began.
During the first panel, Andor Grósz, Péter Kardos, and András Ligeti discussed what it means to be Jewish today in Hungary. They reflected on the current relationship between the Hungarian and Israeli governments and how Jewish identity and its expression have changed—especially since the outbreak of the current war.
This was followed by a differently structured second panel, which consisted not of a discussion, but rather a series of speeches. The first was delivered by Attila Komlós, a retired Reformed pastor, who addressed the topic of “Anti-Zionist Jews and Christian Supporters of the Jewish People.” He was followed by Jonatán Megyeri, who analyzed Hungary’s special relationship with Israel. The third speaker was journalist Attila Seres, who spoke about the image challenges Israel faces. The panel was closed by Péter Breuer with a highly important question: “Why does Hungary support Israel?”
During this panel, József Kis-Benedek was also scheduled to give a speech on Hungarian-Israeli military relations, but due to personal reasons, he was unable to attend the event.
The conference was concluded by Dr. István Gyarmati, who emphasized the importance of ongoing research and spoke about future plans and directions.
The project was supported by:
