Hungarian PM Orban Promises Netanyahu to Protect Hungary's Jews

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday acknowledged the crimes of his country toward Jews during the Holocaust and vowed to protect "all its citizens" and battle anti-Semitism, Haaretz reported.

"Every Hungarian government has the duty to protect all of its citizens, regardless of their heritage," said Orban. "During World War II, Hungary did not comply with this moral and political requirement. This is a sin, because at the time, we decided that instead of protecting the Jewish community, we chose collaboration with the Nazis," Orban continued. "I made it clear to [Netanyahu] that this can never happen again. In the future, the Hungarian government will protect all its citizens."

Orban has been accused of stoking anti-Semitism, including in early July when he attacked Hungarian-born and Jewish-American billionaire George Soros in poster-sized ads featuring an enormous black and white picture of the 86-year-old Holocaust survivor smiling and urging Hungarians not to let him "have the last laugh."

Israel pressured him to take down the ads, and Netanyahu had told Orban of the Hungarian Jewish community's concerns about anti-Semitism there.

Netanyahu's visit to Hungary was the first by an Israeli prime minister in over 30 years.

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