(File photo) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban talks to the media after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, Germany, July 5, 2018. (Reuters photo)
JERUSALEM, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Viktor Orban, Hungary's ultra-nationalist prime minister, is in Israel for a two-day visit that sparks criticism from Israeli politicians and Jewish groups.
Orban, his wife Aniko Levai, and Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto landed in the Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday evening and were welcomed by Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis.
A statement released by the Israeli foreign ministry welcomed Orban, saying his visit will help promote ties between the two countries and strengthen the European support for Israel. "The visit will promote the good bilateral relations that are notably expressed in supporting Israel's positions in European and international forums," the statement read.
His itinerary includes meetings on Thursday with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin. He will also visit Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial, and the Western Wall in East Jerusalem's Old City.
In an unusual move for an EU leader, Orban will not travel to the Israeli-occupied West Bank and will not hold any talks with Palestinian leaders.
Orban's first visit in Israel follows a trip to Budapest by Netanyahu in 2017.
Orban, in power since 2010, is known for his stance against Muslim immigration. Critics say the far-right leader has launched an attack against the legal system in his country, the freedom of speech, and human rights groups.
Many in Hungary's Jewish community has denounced him as anti-Semitic after he started a campaign against Hungarian-born American financier and Holocaust survivor George Soros. Last year, Orban's government released posters which, according to critics, used anti-Semitic stereotypes.
He also hailed Hungary's leader during World War II and Nazi ally, Miklos Horthy, as "an exceptional statesman."
Yair Lapid, head of centrist Israeli opposition party Yesh Atid, wrote on Twitter that "Netanyahu is going to honor Viktor Orban, who has hailed and praised the anti-Semitic leader who collaborated with the Nazis in the extermination of the Jews of Hungary. Shame!"
The visit is part of Netanyahu's strategy to warm up the ties with the Visegrad Group, which includes Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, countries known for their nationalist stance that causes frequent frictions with the EU.
The closer ties are part of Netanyahu's efforts to erode the EU consensus against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip and its support to the nuclear deal with Iran.