Jewish Leader Slams U.S. Ambassador’s Scaremongering with Antisemitism

US Ambassador Pressman sitting on an LGBTQ bench in Budapest.

János Turai, the often outspoken president of the Jewish community of the town of Vác near the capital Budapest, had some strong words for the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, who had purported that Hungarian parliamentarians are involved in antisemitic propaganda.

In connection with a somewhat crude poster campaign commissioned by the government depicting Alex Soros, the U.S. oligarch George Soros’ son, with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, Ambassador Pressman had called out the Hungarian leadership for alleged “antisemitism,” alluding to the Soros Family’s Jewish roots.

Mr. Turai, a holocaust survivor, wrote in an open letter published in Mandiner that

once again, we have been lectured on antisemitism in Hungary by our main, ever-concerned ally. But how much longer will we put up with these humiliating, filthy lies?

asked the Jewish leader.

The community leader from Vác, who has often defended Hungary against politically motivated accusation of antisemitism in the past, pointed out that the United States Ambassador to Hungary recently spoke about how Jews are not safe in Hungary. Although the Hungarian government proclaims zero tolerance for antisemitism, Pressman said it actually encourages the spread of antisemitic views.

In his open letter, addressed to Hungarian Jews Mr. Turai accuses the Ambassador of loosing his common sense, and said that his main activity is to discredit the government and frighten Hungarian Jews. However, the Jewish leaders, asked Mr. Pressman, “why do not you try to fight antisemitism and racism in your own country or in the big cities of Western Europe? Where Jews are really not safe; where Holocaust survivors have been murdered by their racist immigrant neighbors; where bloodthirsty crowds demand the extermination of Jews and the abolition of Israel every day? This is not Budapest, this is not Hungary!”, wrote Mr. Turai.

He also called on his “fellow Hungarian Jews” not to remain silent against such incidents, and to raise their voices against the truly racist speeches and actions. Mr. Turai closes his remarks by saying,

Let us assess our current situation in Hungary, Hungary’s government offers a real perspective, even if it will be a long time before Canaan comes.

The Jewish leader’s words come in the face of antisemitic incidents in the US and Europe that are unprecedented in their size and scale. Data show that in Ambassador Pressman’s own home country antisemitic incidents have risen by 388% since the October terror attacks in Israel, while in Europe the numbers are alarmingly similar. In Germany alone, there has been a fourfold rise in attacks against the Jewish community, between October 7 and November 9 alone there were 944 recorded antisemitic attacks. Many believe the recorded data to be the tip of an iceberg as most of such attacks go unreported.

In Hungary there were no antisemitic incidents during said period, pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel demonstrations were banned, and the government had declared zero tolerance against such hate-crimes.

Via Mandiner; Featured Image: Facebook US Embassy Budapest