Hungarian attack on Board
A SENIOR Hungarian official has attacked Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl, insisting his government is not antisemitic after she raised “profound disquiet” about its language.
Mrs van der Zyl met Vince Szalay-Bobrovniczky — a diplomat and close ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — last week to discuss Mr Orbán’s use of antisemitic tropes in his attacks on George Soros.
But after the Board issued a brief press release summarising their meeting, Mr Szalay-Bobrovniczky wrote he felt “extremely sorry for the Jews that you pretend to represent”, claiming her accusations of antisemitism were “a simple lie” and telling her to “mind your own business”.
“Your definition of antisemitic language is different from ours,” he said in a letter published by the Board on Wednesday.
He accused Mrs van der Zyl of not having the “slightest respect” for Hungary, adding: “I harshly reject again your allegations of antisemitism against us, and especially against PM Orbán. It is a shame for you and a shame for the whole cause: a simple lie.”
He went on to claim the support of Conservative peers Lord Pickles and Lord Ahmad, saying neither believed the Hungarian government “would speak or act in an antisemitic way”.
Lord Pickles confirmed to the JC that he had met Mr Szalay-Bobrovniczky before Christmas as the UK Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues. “It was a business-like meeting. It lasted half an hour and we had those issues to go over, we didn’t talk generally about Orbán.”
He added: “Things sometimes get lost in translation.” Mrs van der Zyl said she was “astonished and disappointed”.