Defence minister meets Israeli counterpart in Tel Aviv

According to a ministry statement, Szalay-Bobrovniczky said the purpose of his meeting was to personally express the Hungarian government’s solidarity with the Jewish state following October’s terrorist attack by Hamas.

“We have supported and will continue to support Israel’s right to self-defence at every forum,” the minister said.

Szalay-Bobrovniczky said he and Gallant had discussed bilateral military ties and defence industry cooperation in addition to current security and defence policy matters. The meeting was also attended by executives of defence industry firms ELBIT, RAFAEL and IAI.

During the visit, Hungary and Israel signed a memorandum of understanding on military cooperation.

Szalay-Bobrovniczky noted Israel’s role in bolstering Hungary’s air defences by supplying components of the Iron Dome missile defence system. These, together with the US-Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), make up Hungary’s 21st-century high-tech air defence system, the minister said.