Hungarian PM's Yad Vashem visit met with protests
Some 20 people block Viktor Orbán's convoy, preventing it from leaving the Holocaust museum after his visit; they were quickly dispersed by police; Orbán participates in short memorial service in Hungarian.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum on Thursday was met with some 20 people protesting outside, saying Orbán is an anti-Semite who violates human rights.
The protesters briefly blocked the access road to the museum, preventing Orbán's convoy from leaving.
They were dispersed by the police a few minutes later, telling Yad Vashem employees they should be ashamed of themselves for hosting the Hungarian prime minister.
Yad Vashem said in response, "The Hungarian prime minister is a guest of the State of Israel. Yad Vashem receives guests of the state in accordance with the visit plan made by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, which is in charge of official visits in the State of Israel."
Orbán participated in a short memorial service at the museum in Hungarian, during which he lit the remembrance torch and placed a candle in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
He was accompanied on his visit by Dr. Robert Rozett, the director of the Yad Vashem Libraries whose research focuses on Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust.
The Hungarian prime minister met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the day, telling him, "Hungary has zero tolerance for all manifestations of anti-Semitism. All Jewish citizens in Hungary are protected by the government, and we are proud of that."
But over the past year, Orbán has led a public anti-Semitic campaign against Jewish philanthropist George Soros, using language and phrases taken from old Nazi propaganda. This campaign was met with fierce condemnation from the Hungarian Jewish community.
He also dubbed Miklós Horthy, the Hungarian ruler during World War II, as a great and extraordinary leader, despite the fact Horthy was known as an anti-Semitic nationalist, joined the Axis alliance during the war and was an active Nazi collaborator.
