A Friend to Israel, and to Bigots: Viktor Orban’s ‘Double Game’ on Anti-Semitism

This juxtaposition extends to Trump himself, of course. The same Donald Trump who moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, also found "good people on both sides" in the deadly Charlottesville Nazi riot.

@ george p fletcher: You're mostly right, but Trump didn't "lead the way". The far-right/nationalistic movement was alive and well in Europe before Trump was more than a gossip column feature - unfortunately.

How many strongman dictators and near-dictators must we watch Trump curry favor with before we accept that he is trying his best to become one of them? Trump's recent stonewalling on *all* Congressional subpoenas and his complaint that "it's not fair" that his son testify in Senate hearings show as well as anything his true disposition. Trump does not uphold the Constitution. He is doing all he can to tear it down.

It seems that Ms Agnes Heller hit the nail on the head with Orban: "he has no ideology. His only goal is power". Like our very own "dear leader" he is not immoral, but amoral which can be far worse.

According to Wikipedia, antisemitism is"s hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against Jews". Implying that Hungarians were victims rather than perpetrators ticks none of these. Furthermore, I assume that we can consider Jewish people living in Hungary as Hungarians. Do you really think that they were perpetrators, not victims? Finally, as your article reflects, the prime minister has lot of jewish allies/friends. Thus, we can't say he is hostile to Jews. He is hostile to a few people who happen to be jews, but also to others who are Hungarian/french/christian who he deems are not acting in Hungary's interest. Calling this antisemitism shows that you dont have other arguments

Do actions speak louder than words?

In my opinion it’s not about his myogenic or racial views Clearly this country has another, more vital, asset: security? , strategic army base ?or natural resources? for so many leaders to court Orban

Excellent article, very good knowledge of the Hungarian situation. Congratulations!

My entire family of three on my father's side and seven on my father's side were born in Hungary . The left before WWII and fortunately to avoid the shame of Orban's taking Hungary back to its anti-Semitic past. Fidesz was the Youth Party circa 1990. Then the world -- Trump leading the way -- lurched to the right. Orban has become temporarily important but this too shall pass.

Yet, just like trump loves Kim, Bibi loves Orban, and trump loves Orban. And the anti-Semitism charge and slur is thrown around to silence criticism of legitimate criticism and true anti-Semitism. Isn't criticizing Adelson or his polar opposite Soros anti-Semitic, regardless if Jews are doing the criticizing? Or does it depend on whether you are a right wing extremist or not? Picturing trump showered with bank notes is not anti-Semitic but the same with Bibi, another corrupt avaricious politician is anti-Semitic? Give me a break! The inconsistent and selective use of the anti-Semitic slur and trope has only confused and weakened its meaning and its power. Indeed, how do you criticize Hasidic or Orthodox Jews that consider other Jews not Jewish enough? Aren't they anti-Semitic? Trump led on a leash by Bibi is anti-Semitic - yet trump loves his "fine people" who yell "Jews will not replace us." Orban, Bibi and trump - yet another neo-axis-of-evil by any other name is still evil. They deserve each other. I would think trump - who still praises neo-Nazis as fine people - wearing a skullcap and fake praying at the wall is as anti-Semitic as it gets, yet is celebrated by those over sensitized to perceptions of antisemitism everywhere. What about trump's "record of alleged anti-Semitism"? Bibi's anti-Palestinianism and anti-Gentile-ism? Indeed, Bibi now has bigots in his governing coalition- he needs them to remain in power. Paradox? No! Just sick. They're "only goal is power."

When the real world doesn't seem to make sense it becomes necessary to re-examine fundamental assumptions. There is no inherent contradiction between anti-Semitism and support for Zionism and Israel. Indeed there is good reason to regard Zionism as the mirror image of anti-Semitism. Anti-Semites say that Jews cannot coexist with non-Jews. Zionism agrees and proposes their concentration in an ethnostate of their own. Anti-Semites depict the Jew as physically weak, deceitful and essentially corrupt and corrupting. Zionism assigns the same attributes to the Jewish diaspora, insisting that the Jew can only achieve health and strength and recover their dignity by making Aliyah. Anti-Semites identify modern progressive ideas of cosmopolitanism, internationalism, and multiculturalism with Jews and as corrosive of national identities and traditions. Zionism similarly rejects these values among Jews and urges a "return" to an imaginary national past. In the aftermath of the Holocaust these parallels were massively overshadowed by the obvious and murderous differences. The tawdrier chapters of Zionist collaboration with fascist and other authoritarian states in Europe in the 20s and 30s were swept under the rug while the dispersal and invisibility of the Palestinians facilitated the fiction that Israel was a liberal democracy rather than what it actually was. The relationship with the likes of Orban is not a new thing. Just ask the South Africans and Guatemalans.

To a lesser extent, Trump does the same as Mr. Orban. Trump may not be anti-Semitic personally but he nods to anti-Semitism to "keep the support of the more extreme parts of his right-wing base". Trump uses Jared Kushner as his son in law for 'cover'. This is also "political logic" for Trump as he manipulates with a nod or wink or non-statement anti-Semitic tropes and imagery. Trump must keep 'his base' happy on all fronts and that includes hatred and bigotry of almost everyone except white Christian males and their wives. It could also be said of Trump that he has no ideology and his "only goal is power". Of course with Trump America would have to add money and adulation for Trump's massive malignant black hole of an ego.

The stated as well as the implicit logic of Mr. Orban's admiration for Admiral Horthy's person and politics can only mean that Mr. Orban doesn't recognize the legitimacy of Hungary's current borders. There could be reasonable arguments against the Versailles Peace Treaty that gave Hungarian territory to neighboring states after WWI, but the question for the present is how far Mr. Orban is willing to push those neighbors and what this may do to the peace and security of Europe. Horthy gambled and lost everything in his effort to regain the lost territories. How much is Mr. Orban willing to gamble, and will he be allowed to destabilize the region?

No more antisemitism in Hungry? The picture showing in the article shows a sparsely attended synagogue on the day commemorating a historical date, the liberation of Budapest Jewish ghetto. I don't think Viktor Orban's party and Hungarians who support him are free of the disease called Jew-hatred. Their affection for Bibi and Israel is largely due to their mutual fear and hatred of Islam and Muslims.

Orban also plays a double game in international relations, pretending to be allied to the west (Nato, the EU), but all the while serving the interests of Russia. There is also a double game in his purporting to serve the interests of Hungary and Hungarians when self-interest (and enrichment) is his guiding principle. In Hungarian they refer to it as "the dance of the peacock".

Sounds a bit like the Donald. Play every side, keep people on their toes while knocking them off of their feet so they have no idea what you will pull next.

Surely ‘his only goal is power’, also includes the consequences of that power if it is enacted. Doing ‘whatever it takes’, to keep power, can only lead to a repetition of the horrors of the Holocaust. What I also find sickening to the pit of my stomach, is Trump’s fawning cosying up to Orban. We should all feel extremely uncomfortable and wary about this, and be on the watch for increasing authoritarian, and, ipso facto, anti-semitism. Eternal vigilance is absolutely necessary.

“The question is not whether Viktor Orban is anti-Semitic, because he has no ideology,” Ms. Heller said. “His only goal is power,” she said. “And whatever means is going get him more power, he is going to use it.”

"Mr. Orban won a major public relations prize on Monday: an Oval Office meeting with President Trump...." It's a twisted world indeed when anyone thinks that getting a compliment and handshake from Donald Trump is any sort of prize.

I had Hungarian friend when i lived in England . In fact there was a lot of Hungarian people who went to England looking for work. After Orban became political leader in Hungary all of them went back as economy improved. I don't know what he s stand on Jews is - i wouldn't trust nyt rather check myself . Even if he doesn't like Jews so what ?. There is a whole bunch of people who don't like Polish or Americans so what ?. I believe everyone should mind his own business .

Jared and Ivanka could be speaking up about Mr. Orban, but ....

In Orban, Donald Trump sees a hero, and a political plan to emulate.

Trump, Bibi and Orban - what a collection of would-be dictators. They all appeal to right wing authoritarian cults. We in the US need to show the world how to preserve democracy, and how to fix this problem. We did it during WW I and WW II. Time to get it done again, this time here at home. Thomas Jefferson was right: Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Or maybe it was American Abolitionist and liberal activist Wendell Phillips on January 28, 1852. Speaking to members of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society that day, Phillips said: “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few. http://www.thisdayinquotes.com/2011/01/eternal-vigilance-is-price-of-liberty.html

The bottom line is that as far as Orban and Trump are concerned anything goes in politics as long as it keeps you in office, no matter how repulsive it is and no matter whether it makes any sense or not. By the way is it a coincidence that both Donald Trump and Viktor Orban have the exact same number of letters in each of their first and last names?

AH is spot on: Mr Orban is a political opportunist and will endorse whatever keeps him in power. That is exactly what he shares with Mr Trump.

This is all relatively simple to understand. Mr. Orban loves Jews. Only thing is, that love only extends as long as they: (a) keep quiet; or (b) are in Israel. President Trump demonstrates a similar view with respect to us Jews in the United States. Problem is, however, that most of us are not Israeli. Instead, my country is the U.S.A. And, because I am a patriot and love this country, I won't keep quiet when my fellow Americans and human beings - regardless of whether or not Jewish - are dehumanized by this administration.

Yet another stain to our country and to democracies around the world, for a US president to welcome such a heinous racist leader into the oval office is a really painful thing to see.

The one characteristic of authoritarian regimes is their use of history. They, at the same time, will erase history and create history, that never existed. I wonder how their history explains the disappearance of Raoul Wallenberg and their fascist past association with Nazi Germany.

He will back Israel because it is someplace Jews can go to, and he backs Bibi because he has similar authoritarian impulses. He makes a big deal about an historic Magyar/Jewish coalition, which, simply implies that Jews are different/separate from regular Hungarians. The guy ticks almost every fascist box as per Robert Paxton’s The Anatomy of Fascism. (Which, incidentally, trump* is also working on.)

Trump does the same thing as fellow autocrat Orban. On the one hand he employs anti-Semitic tropes against George Soros as an unpatriotic internationalist, or attacks Jewish journalists who criticize him, and on the other taking meaningless symbolic actions supposedly to the benefit of Israel. but actually to its detriment.

That last line - sounds like way too many world leaders. How sad.

There is certainly a mistake in this: "His critics accuse him of rolling back democracy, but Mr. Orban won a major public relations prize on Monday: an Oval Office meeting with President Trump." You should replace "but" with "and". Otherwise you might create the impression that Trump is a symbol of democracy.

Viewed through Heller's lens, Orban's (and Trumps') actions make perfect sense.

I had much to say about yet another in a long line of present day despots. And then I came to the last two paragraphs. Really, there is nothing else to say besides, 'Help us'.

Wow -- kudos to Kingsley for this one, a skeleton key for interpreting our authoritarians and the double games they like to play. Yet another piece for the virtual time capsule.