Czechia’s centre-right government and Hungary’s radical right-wing regime were the only European Union members to vote against a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on September 18 calling for the withdrawal of Israeli military forces from Palestinian occupied territories within a year.

The only other states to vote against were the US, Argentina, Paraguay, Malawi and a clutch of Pacific islands. The UN General Assembly passed the resolution  by 124 votes to 14, with 43 abstentions.

The resolution also called for a halt to the building of new illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and the evacuation of existing settlers, the dismantling of parts of the West Bank wall Israel has constructed, the return of Palestinian refugees, and for Israel to return Palestinian assets and pay reparations for the refugees' suffering.

The resolution follows the recent judgement of the International Criminal Court that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land since the  1967 Six Day War is illegal, a stance that UNGA has consistently supported. The court declared in July that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied territories “is unlawful”, and that “all states are under an obligation not to recognise” the decades-long occupation. 

Hungary and Czechia have often prevented the EU from taking a united stand on Israel, including recently an attempt to sanction violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban has forged strong links with his fellow radical right-wing leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, and has backed Israel’s invasion of Gaza and its continued occupation of Palestinian territories. Backing Israel acts as a useful fig leaf against charges that Orban’s government is anti-semitic, particularly in its propaganda campaign against Hungarian-American Jewish philanthropist George Soros.

In Czechia, most of the political spectrum backs Israel and turns a deaf ear to the outcry over its bloody invasion of Gaza, which has so far killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, overwhelmingly civilians.

In a speech in UNGA on September 18, Czech ambassador Jakub Kulhanek said: “The adopted resolution fails to address the immense security challenges Israel faces, including Hamas's use of the Gaza Strip as a launching pad for its rampage of killing of Israelis, while systematically using the Palestinian civilians as human shields.”

Czech Defence Minister Jana Cernochova has even invited to Prague her Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant, against whom the International Criminal Court (ICC) has applied for an arrest warrant over the actions of the Israeli army in Gaza.

The Czech foreign ministry has tried to take a slightly more balanced stance than the rest of the cabinet on this issue, and has resisted moves by Prime Minister Petr Fiala and former president Milos Zeman to move the Czech embassy to Jerusalem, which the EU does not recognise as the Israeli capital.

It is also believed to be unhappy about Cernochova's invitation, which could put the country into an embarrassing dilemma of either arresting Gallant or violating its commitments to the ICC. Deputy Foreign Minister Eduard Hulicius told bne IntelliNews this week:"We are monitoring the situation, but to our knowledge the [ICC] warrant has not been issued yet."

Across Eastern Europe, there is generally much more sympathy for Israel than the Palestinian cause. Attitudes are very much shaped by shame over the Holocaust – which, though organised by Nazi Germany, was sometimes backed by local right-wing authoritarian regimes – together with a desire to take a diametrically opposed stance to that of the post-war communist regimes.

Modern Israel is also admired by Central and Southeast European countries for its uncompromising approach to its own security and its military prowess. They have forged military and intelligence links with Israel, which has become a significant arms and security supplier to the region, as the recent scandals over the use of Pegasus spyware against domestic opponents has revealed.

Netanyahu's Israel has also become a rallying point for global far-right leaders, as part of a wider anti-Islamic campaign.  For Argentina, in contrast to the rest of Latin America,  new far-right President Javier Milei has shifted his country’s foreign policy towards a strong backing for Israel in the Israel-Palestinian conflict since he took office. He has even talked about converting to Judaism, such is his devotion to Israel.