The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán – who has been accused of stoking antisemitism – has greeted his Israeli counterpart with a public promise to “protect” Hungary’s Jewish community.

Referring to Hungary’s collaboration with the Nazis, the rightwing leader told Benjamin Netanyahu, who is in Budapest on a controversial visit: “We decided in world war two, instead of protecting the Jewish community, to cooperate with the Nazis. This will never happen again.” “I made it clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu that the government will secure the Jewish minority and that we have zero tolerance to antisemitism,” he added.

Netanyahu said Orbán had reassured him in unequivocal terms that the Hungarian government stood by the Jewish people, which he called “important words” coming on the back of Orbán’s recent remarks that unnerved Jews in the country. Netanyahu’s visit – the first by an Israeli prime minister since the fall of communism three decades ago – has attracted sharp criticism in Israel, amid a campaign by Orbán’s Fidesz party targeting the Jewish billionaire philanthropist George Soros, to which Netanyahu, who also detests Soros, has lent support.(theguardian)…[+]