Katalin Novák's solidarity visit to Israel

We Hungarians can never be indifferent to what happens in Israel, said Katalin Novák, the President of Hungary, during her solidarity visit to Israel.

At the beginning of her visit, Israeli President Isaac Herzog welcomed Katalin Novák, the Hungarian Head of State on a solidarity visit to Israel, at his residence in Jerusalem. Herzog said that his Hungarian counterpart arrived at the saddest time in Israel's history, just one month after the "incomprehensible, barbaric, unacceptable" terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas terrorist organisation in the Gaza Strip, which killed the most Jews in one day since the Holocaust. 

The Israeli Head of State recalled the images of infants, elderly people and women who were abducted to the Gaza Strip, and thanked the President for her visit, stating that Israel would not forget Hungary's support during these difficult times, nor the fact that Theodor Herzl, who conceived the State of Israel, was born in Budapest.
Katalin Novák emphasized that Israel has the right to defend itself and condemned the attack by Hamas. She referred to the horrors of 7 October as shocking and stressed that the images of terror were condemned by all in Hungary, regardless of party sympathies. Hungary stands in solidarity with Israel, and she assured the Israeli President of her support. She stressed that there is no negotiating with terrorists, yet civilian lives must be protected in the fight against them. 

Herzog emphasized that if Israel did not stand in the way of terrorists, the whole of Europe would be their next target, and confirmed Israel's support for humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.  He stated that Hamas violates the Geneva Convention, which is why they have no information about the abducted Israelis. Meanwhile, Israel is establishing a security zone to protect civilians.

Katalin Novák stressed to both the Israeli President and later to the relatives of the abducted Hungarian citizens that as a mother of three, it is particularly painful for her to witness the suffering of the hostages' families.
She expressed her deep solidarity with the families and she listened first to the testimony of a mother whose 8 and 15-year-old daughters had been abducted by Hamas on October 7 from one of the kibbutzim near the Gaza Strip.

She also learned about the story of a 47-year-old father of young children, to whom Hamas reportedly stated that if he cooperated without resistance, they wouldn't harm his wife and children. Since then, his family has had no information about his whereabouts, similar to the fate of the third Hungarian captive.
Katalin Novák promised to do everything in her power not only for them, but also for the release of all Israeli hostages.