Both politicians “thrive on hatred towards universal human values and norms, delegitimizing voices of advocates for human rights and running smearing campaigns against activists and groups”, the organisations said in a joint statement.

They added that both countries have passed or are planning to pass legislation which seeks to “limit nongovernmental organizations, known for their struggle for democracy, securing human rights for all, and calling their governments for accountability”.

They also raised concerns over what they called “the poisoning of the public arena in both countries” through the use of a “smearing rhetoric” by the two leaders “and their groundless accusations of human rights groups, Amnesty International included”.

At the same time, they welcomed the European Commission’s decision to launch an infringement procedure against Hungary over the law on the transparency of foreign-funded NGOs.

The statement quoted Amnesty International Israel’s programmes director Molly Malekar as saying that at their upcoming meeting, Orbán and Netanyahu “will exchange not only anti-democratic values, but also means, which are aimed to execute these values”.

Júlia Iván, AI Hungary’s director, called on Orbán and Netanyahu to “reconsider their human rights performances” and return to pursuing policies that respect and protect the human rights of all.

The Government Information Centre responded saying both Hungary and Israel take a firm stand against the “paid organisations” of US financier George Soros. “Soros’s paid activists want to bring hundreds of thousands of migrants to Europe and attack countries that protect their borders at every turn,” they said in a statement.

Netanyahu is scheduled to arrive for an official visit to Budapest on Monday.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.

MTI photo: Kovács Tamás