In his letter, the chief rabbi also poses questions regarding Péter Márki-Zay to the chancellor whose social democratic-green-liberal governing coalition is in the same European party family in the European Parliament.
Would it be possible in Germany for the leader of the opposition to be keeping count of the Jewish members of
the ruling party? Or to refer to a Fidesz consultant who passed away years ago as a homophobic Jewish consultant in a gay marriage?
(Though he is not named in Köves’ letter, Márki-Zay was most likely referring to the American political consultant, Arthur Finkelstein.)
He also asks the rhetorical question in relation to Márki-Zay’s statements at his Fonyód election forum. As was reported, the leftist PM nominee –alongside the far-right Jobbik’s Ádám Steinmetz – said that their alliance was a “rainbow coalition” which represents liberals, communists, conservatives and fascists alike. Márki-Zay also added that any man with a backbone can represent his own opinion.
Referring to the 2012 quote from Jobbik’s Márton Gyöngyösi, Köves asks another question. Could it be imagined in Germany, that a representative of a 16 percent party would say at a plenary session of parliament: “It is time to assess the number of people of Jewish descent living here, and especially those in our government, who pose a national security risk to Hungary”?
“Would it be possible in your nation for this person to be the vice-president of his party nine years later and to have a significant role in the leftist liberal opposition alliance?”
– asked the chief EMIH rabbi of Scholz. The letter alludes to the antisemitism surveys conducted in Germany and Hungary among other countries; however, Köves notes that “the situation can not merely be assessed based on surveys, but in its current context as well.” According to the studies, about 20 percent more in Hungary seem to have antisemitic views than in Germany – yet Hungary only reported 34 antisemitic crimes in 2020 while Germany reported 2275. In an interview with the Jewish-focused newspaper, Neokohn, Slomó Köves said of his letter to Scholz: “In a sense I see some parallels between German and Hungarian public life and I wanted to draw the attention of German and especially Jewish German public figures to those parallels. While politicians declare their commitment to the Jewry, they sweep anti-Israel manifestations under the rug – not to mention the perceptible deterioration of security in the Jewish community. If German consistency on this matter becomes questionable, it will have far-reaching consequences. The fight against antisemitism must take precedence over transitory political commitments at home and in Germany,” he said.
Photo: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
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