Jewish organizations condemn Hungarian university for inviting former Iranian President Ahmadinejad
The Israeli embassy and Jewish organizations in Hungary blasted the Ludovika University of Public Service in Budapest for inviting former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend an academic event this week.
Ahmadinejad, Iran's sixth president from 2005 to 2013, is a Holocaust denier who described the genocide of six million Jews as a “myth.” During his tenure as Iran’s president, he openly called for the Jewish state to be “wiped off the map.”
On Wednesday, two leading Hungarian Jewish congregations condemned the university’s decision to extend an invitation to the “openly antisemitic” leader and urged the administration at Ludovika University “to consider whether it wishes to give Ahmadinejad the opportunity to spread his dangerous and poisonous ideas within the walls of the institution.”
In their statement, they argued that publicly inviting Ahmadinejad to an academic institution was a “direct contradiction to the principle of zero tolerance against antisemitism proclaimed by the Hungarian government.”
The Hungarian Foreign Ministry in Budapest responded that the government “does not interfere in university programs.”
“The government has not received the former Iranian president. His program is a university program,” the ministry emphasized.
Notably, in 2007, students at Columbia University protested the visit of Ahmedinjad to the New York City campus. Not only Jews but also Iranian expats were particularly upset that the former Iranian president had been invited to address the campus.
Hungary is home to around 100,000 Jews, representing the largest Jewish community in central Europe. However, before the Holocaust, more than 600,000 Jews lived there.
Compared to other nations in Europe, the Holocaust began comparatively late in Hungary. In May 1944, the Nazis and their Hungarian collaborators began deporting Hungarian Jews to the Auschwitz death camp. More than half a million Hungarian Jews were murdered by the end of the Holocaust in 1945.
Hungary has emerged as one of Israel’s strongest allies in the European Union. In recent years, Hungary and Israel have developed close diplomatic relations and both nations have criticized many of the European Union’s progressive foreign policies.
In February, Hungary reportedly blocked the European Union from releasing a joint statement opposing the IDF's military operation in Rafah against the Hamas terrorist organization.
“Hungary stood alone in the EU,” a senior diplomatic source told The Jerusalem Post on condition of anonymity. The source stressed that EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, had attempted to diplomatically block an “option and possibility of [IDF] action in Gaza,” likely a reference to Rafah where most of the remaining Hamas forces are concentrated.
During an official visit to Budapest in March, Israeli Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli praised Hungary as the safest place for Jews in Europe.
“It is Hungary’s robust conservative leadership that ensures Jews can walk through the streets safely, unlike in other European capitals, where, notably in London, Jews require armored vehicles for safe passage,” the Israeli minister stated.
There have also been conflicting reports that the Hungarian government was considering moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
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The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
