One does not always expect that the news on the screen will hit home and meet you in person. During a conference in Budapest that dealt with the topic of sexual abuse on October 7, where I had the honor to be one of the keynote speakers, alongside Israeli ambassador to Hungary Yaakov Hadas-Handelsman and two other Israeli speakers, an unforeseeable ambush was lurking for us. Curious and supportive attendees in the audience, expecting nothing but an everyday academic conference, were quite shocked to discover amongst them a group of some 15 well-organized foreign students. They showed up for one purpose, and one purpose only: to make a spectacle, to blow up the conference, and thereby delegitimize the right of any Israeli national to speak in a public conference. It was not as much the content of our views as our very identity that apparently “triggered” them.
The all-out madness on US campuses manifested before us for all to see – clearly, easily-motivated youngsters who are quick to be adamant on issues they could not coherently lay out, make up their minds according to herd mentality on social media and campus, and can show off nothing but bumper sticker-type howling. We were attempting to make our case, present our professional analysis, and then opened it up to questions from the audience – some of which were brilliant. Yet both the hosts and the audience were appalled by the behavior of these rioters, which they repeatedly stressed to us, has never happened in Hungary before. The Danube Institute, which had the commendable initiative to host this event and worked so hard to make it happen, found itself the victim of an ambuscade.
One at a time, hecklers got up and shouted toxic rhetoric at us – that Israel allegedly commits genocide, murders children, steals organs and incarcerates innocent Palestinians deliberately. No superlative was spared in this shouting match. They made sure to document it with their phones and upload this charade to TikTok. The Israeli ambassador did not speak his first word before a heckler got up and tried to approach him – to be thrown out by his security guards. At least five different disturbances, with more hidden hecklers shouting from their seats and getting out of control. His security guards quickly escorted him out. Rioters also kicked people in the compound and blocked the entrances, with guests in the local restaurant escorted out via a detour.
The organizers tried to assure the rioters that the purpose of the conference was to engage in a dialogue. This is an extremely sensitive and complex issue, stressed one of them, and we cannot wait to hear your feedback. But please, be courteous, and respect the people in the room. In vain.
When I got to the podium, I decided we will no longer be appeasers. The classic pro-Israeli strategy is usually all about “going high when they go low”, speaking with candor when they slander. Facing such an obvious attempt to disrupt and attack, however, it was clear to me that there was no room to appease. If any, there was room to double down.
Before I got my first word out, a heckler burst out, attempted to attack me and shouted false accusations about Israel deliberately targeting civilians. I didn’t flinch. “To all the remaining hecklers still in the room, the check is waiting for you outside,” I said cynically, “so please take a video of yourselves making a spectacle, because you are interrupting an adult conference.” More hecklers burst out. “I assure you, we will no longer be ‘Jews on trembling knees’, to paraphrase Menachem Begin,” I said. “Today we wear uniform, hold a weapon, and protect ourselves.” Later, one person from the audience, of Vietnamese origin, confessed to me he is still grateful to Begin for letting in refugees from his country.
I remained composed and calm because I was confident truth was on our side. They were yelling because apparently, truth hurts. I spoke about the reframing of the issue – a war of the West against the radical axis, rather than just Israel’s war against Hamas or Palestinians in Gaza. I showed them pictures of ravaged communities in the south, and our new national heroes – fallen soldiers who now appear on stickers and billboards. We are on the same boat against the radical axis, I emphasized, and if Israel falls, the West is next.
When Jewish people are victims, these protesters do not seem to be bothered. It is when Jewish people retaliate and stand their ground that they are beginning to frowl. Although, one must say, this utter disregard to facts did not come in a vacuum. These accusations were far from being a figment of their imagination; they drew them directly from the anti-Israeli ambiance created by interested politicians who would like to cease thinking about Israel as they attempt re-election. Joseph Borrell in the EU, Antonio Guterres in the UN, even some in the US administration – they all generate this anti-Israeli ambiance with bogus data originating in UN reports, claiming 40,000 Palestinians were killed based on Hamas’ propaganda machine, known as the “Gaza Ministry of Health”. They frame Israel’s war of self-defense as “genocide”, and offer it lectures, not solutions.
Balázs Orbán, Political Director of the Hungarian Prime Minister, reacted by saying that “Hungary has a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of anti-Semitism … This is a government policy that we do not compromise on. This is why, in recent months, we have been actually the only country in Europe that has not allowed violent protests in support of terrorist organizations. … These violent incidents and the disruption of free expression are unacceptable in our view.”
Left and right, local media was unison in its condemnation. “They are importing hatred to Hungary”, said one paper, in a country that could not be more aggressive toward anti-Israeli rhetoric and unlike many of its European neighbors, had no such violent demonstrations on their streets and campuses. If any, there were large-scale pro-Israeli rallies, with Hungarians from all walks of life – secular, Faith Church, or Jewish – showing their true and moving solidarity. Pro-Israeli Hungarian citizens posted how the “provocateurs used lies on Israel” and “they shout slogans than mean wiping Israel off the map” … “we did not back down, we moved forward with the event, and were so proud of the Israeli ambassador that despite their efforts, delivered his speech”. The Israeli embassy called the interruptions “shameful” and that “free speech should never be used to silence”. Budapest was “flooded” with pro-Palestinian graffiti, according to reports, with locals taking cleaning fluids and taking to the streets to wipe them off.
This, if any, is the real victory. Not backing down facing a mob, taking severe steps against rioters, volunteers wiping out their graffiti, and local media united in its distaste for this show of hatred. “We understand,” one local expert told me, “you are fighting an existential war. And we are on your side.” We are not measured by our attackers, but by our response to them. The contrast between the two could not be more obvious to me.
