Top Israeli aide brands Corbyn an antisemite

A SENIOR official in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party has branded Jeremy Corbyn “an antisemite”.

Speaking in Hungary at a conference on the future of European Jewry, Likud Foreign Affairs Director Eli Hazan said: “There is no doubt about Jeremy Corbyn being an antisemite… You see what Jeremy Corbyn has done is not just against the State of Israel but against Jews as well.”

He went on to warn the audience of politicians, communal leaders and security experts in Budapest on Wednesday of coalitions between farleft and far-right extremist parties in Europe.

“We must focus on that for a second. It confirms what has happened here [in Hungary] with Jobbik and this new alliance. And we must deal with it. This is a danger not just for the Jews. This is a danger for Hungary, for Europe and for the European Union.”

At the conference, one of Hungary’s most senior politicians claimed that there is now more antisemitism in the UK than in his homeland.

Dr Csaba Latorcai, Deputy State Secretary for Social Affairs, told the conference: “The Hungarian government has acted to protect its communities. Comparing that to Great Britain — the numbers are rising. There are now many more attacks in Great Britain than there are in Hungary.”

He added that official figures showed just 18 incidents in Hungary in the first six months of 2017. Quoting Community Security Trust figures on recorded incidents in the UK, Dr Latorcai claimed there were “40 times” as many reported attacks than in Hungary.

Dr Istvan Mikola, the Hungarian Minister of State for Security Policy, said Jewish influences had made the national culture “stronger and richer.”

He insisted Hungary had a “zero tolerance” approach towards antisemitism but warned there was a clear connection between terrorism and mass immigration into Europe.

Meanwhile the Hungarian government’s official spokesperson dismissed claims that a campaign against George Soros by the country’s ruling Fidesz party was pandering to antisemitic sentiment. Zoltan Kovacks insisted that continued attacks against the Jewish billionaire investor were sparked by his pro-immigration values.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s administration launched an anti-Soros poster campaign in the spring. The campaign claims that Mr Soros wants to allow one million refugees into Europe each year.

Mr Kovacs said: “We criticised what Mr Soros was doing but it has nothing to do with his origins.”

The one-day conference, entitled Are Europe’s Jews Safe? – Challenges of Europe’s migration crisis and the threat of Islamic Fundamentalist Terrorism