Israel's Embassy in Budapest Reacts to Gyongyosi's Anti-Semitic Statement

Recently, the public saw the emergence of yet another anti-Semitic statement from Marton Gyongyosi, president of the Jobbik party. In his correspondence, the opposition politician attacked Viktor Orban with anti-Jewish statements, describing Hungary's prime minister as a "Zionist hireling". Israel's ambassador to Budapest, Yacov Hadas-Handelsman, responded to Magyar Nemzet's inquiry about Mr Gyongyosi's remark.

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 – This is yet another proof revealing the true nature of Jobbik, Yacov Hadas-Handelsman, Israel's ambassador to Budapest, told Magyar Nemzet in response to our inquiry. The diplomat was commenting on an internal correspondence from 2020, published by Hungarian Origo news portal, in which Jobbik Chairman Marton Gyongyosi made another anti-Semitic statement, this time about PM Viktor Orban. The email exchange on January 9, 2020, involved MEP and Jobbik Chairman Marton Gyongyosi and Janos Stummer, Jobbik's former vice-chairman and ex-president of the Hungarian parliament's National Security Committee. 

I did not wish to comment on Orban's remark - tantamount to a provocation in and of itself - directly, but rather indirectly, through criticism and condemnation of the America's actions. I felt an urge to write that he was a "Zionist hireling," a prisoner of the Lubovitch sect, but I am not sure how one could get away with that,

– Marton Gyongyosi wrote in the letter.

Yacov Hadas-Handelsman, Ambassador of the State of Israel in Budapest (Photo: Nemzeti Sport/Arvai Karoly)

Jobbik's leadership was discussing what position to take in their statement "on the situation in Iran". The issue was topical at the time, as the United States had just liquidated Iranian spy chief Kasim Suleymani, the man responsible for the terrorist attacks.

We have also sent an inquiry to the US Embassy, headed by David Pressman, regarding Marton Gyongyosi's statement, but have yet to receive a reply.

Marton Gyongyosi, ill-famed for his anti-Semitic statements

This is not the first time the Jobbik chairman has made anti-Semitic statements. In 2012, he called for the listing of Jewish MPs in the Hungarian parliament. He argued that it was time to make a list of "how many people of Jewish descent living here, and especially in the Hungarian parliament and government, pose a certain national security risk to Hungary". Mr Gyongyosi has also remained rather active in recent years:

So this Israel, and so every single citizen of this Israel...  in my conviction, should they happen to be anywhere in the world, not just in Hungary, ab ovo, so, evenat a glance and from a distance, and without knowing who they are, they pose - in my conviction - a national security risk, 

– he said at a public forum of Jobbik a few years ago.

At a public forum in 2013, Jobbik's politician spoke mockingly about the victims of the Holocaust.

David Pressman takes the anti-Semitic politician's side

Although Marton Gyongyos's anti-Semitic statements having grabbed headlines, US Ambassador David Pressman believes the Jobbik president has a place at the delegation's receptions. Last April, Mr Gyongyosi was photographed wearing a kippah at the embassy's Passover Seder. Responding to Magyar Nemzet's question, the US ambassador emphasized that the embassy had extended an invitation to Mr Gyongyosi to attend the dinner even despite the politician's previous anti-Semitic remarks, because it is important for them to have a dialogue with Hungarians of different opinions, including even those with whom they disagree.

Cover photo: Jobbik President Marton Gyongyosi (Photo: Zoltan Havran)