Hungarian Government Denies Cutting Short Anti-Soros ‘Laughing Jew’ Campaign
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — Hungary’s government denied reports that it prematurely ended its media campaign against billionaire George Soros amid pressure by leaders of Hungarian Jewry and Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
The report appeared Wednesday on the news website of the ATV television station, which is highly critical of the policies of Hungary’s right-wing prime minister, Viktor Orban.
The decision to take down the posters of Soros, a left-leaning Jewish philanthropist who is funding organizations devoted to helping immigrants from the Middle East in Hungary and elsewhere in Europe, was made in connection with the visit next week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Budapest, ATV reported.
“As part of the preparations, it was decided it was better if Netanyahu does not see any posters that violate the sensitivity of the Hungarian Jewish community,” the report said.
But a government spokesman on Wednesday told JTA that the six-week campaign, which began in May, is ending as scheduled, not being stopped ahead of time for Netanyahu’s visit or any other reason.
The campaign was “a success because it broke participation records and provided a very clear result: The Hungarians will not allow decisions that affect them to be made without them,” the spokesman wrote in an email. “We expect drawn out disputes on the issue.”
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
