Israeli Envoy Speaks Out After Meeting Romanian Far-Right Leader

Jerusalem, 29 August, 2023 (TPS) -- Bucharest, Aug. 28, 2023 (AGERPRES)
Israel’s ambassador in Bucharest, Reuven Azar, told AGERPRES, after the meeting he had on Monday with the leader of the right-wing Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), George Simion, that the message sent by the party led by him is “unprecedented”.

Azar said that he decided to meet with the AUR leader because the party members “agreed to deliver a public statement, a statement that would include four elements that the Israeli side cared a lot about.”

The diplomat explained that these four elements are as follows: “1. the assumption of the Holocaust on the Romanian Jews from the territory of Romania during the Second World War; 2. the condemnation of anti-Semitism and the adoption of the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism; 3. the prohibition of the use [of the images of] war criminals, especially Ion Antonescu – they mentioned that there is a law in this sense, and 4. supporting education about the Holocaust.”

The ambassador said, “These are the four elements that were the conditions for our meeting, and this allows us to open a dialogue. Of course, when someone reaches out to you and is ready to say the right thing, we must give him a chance. I think I saw this at that meeting, I spoke with the AUR leader about these issues. He expressed his firm opposition to anti-Semitism, he firmly condemned anti-Semitism, during the meeting, the importance of Holocaust memory, the fact that exterminated people, killed in various ways, were Romanians and that he supports ties with the State of Israel.”

Azar added, “We talked about the bilateral relationship, regional issues and we will see if this declaration is respected. (…) There has never been a nationalist, extreme right-wing party that adopted such a declaration.

Moreover, he noted that more people will be “careful” if the statement becomes reality.

“We live in an open world, everyone can see everything and not only we will pay attention to these aspects, everyone will pay attention to these aspects, including Jewish organizations, people in Israel, in Romania, in the USA and in other places. This is the reason why it is important that this statement was made publicly,” Azar said.