Hungary Far Right Challenges Jews to Debate

By JTA July 2, 2012

Days after one of his colleagues admitted to having Jewish roots, a far-right Hungarian politician challenged the country’s Jewish communal leader to a debate.

Gabor Vona, the leader of the Hungarian nationalist party Jobbik, said he wants to show Slomo Koves, who heads the Unified Hungarian Jewish Congregation, that Jobbik is not anti-Semitic.

“Jobbik has never had and will never have any program point, proposal or idea which discriminates between Hungary’s inhabitants on the grounds of ethnicity and religion,” Vona told the website Politics.hu.

Jobbik members have used anti-Semitic rhetoric repeatedly in the past. Politics.hu reported that Koves wants to organize Jews and other Hungarians to combat anti-Semitism.

Last week, a regional leader of Jobbik, Csanad Szegedi, revealed that he is of Jewish descent.

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