The 64-year-old Jewish father of five from Budapest has finally made a decision: He is voting for the Party Two Tailed Dog, which was created in 2006 as a parody, with campaign promises of free beer and eternal life. “I prefer to vote for a real party,” said Pretz, who said he took “suffrage very seriously” because he grew up under communism. “But for the first time, I have no choice.” This feeling, which seems to be shared by many Hungarian Jews, is the result of a new political reality in Hungary. The right-wing populist government of Prime Minister Victor Orban is in a tough race for power with a newly formed coalition of opposition parties – the largest body of which comes from the far-right Jobbik party, which many consider a neo-Nazi movement. Get the Times of Israel Daily E-mail and never miss our top stories By registering, you agree to the terms The coalition, called United for Hungary, includes groups from across the political spectrum and has taken the unorthodox step of announcing a prime ministerial candidate before the election, choosing a center without much political baggage in a clear message that it intends to rule from waist, if he overthrows Orban. Hungarian Jews celebrate the inauguration of a new synagogue in Budapest on August 27, 2021. (Cnaan Liphshiz via JTA) But that does not change the fact that success in the opposition alliance would give Jobbik, Hungary’s second-largest party, more power than it has ever had before. Jobbik, whose critics accuse him of being institutionally racist, is responsible for multiple anti-Semitic scandals, and Mazsihisz, Hungary’s largest Jewish group, has called the party “anti-Semitic” and “fascist”. Pretz is among the Hungarian Jews – a minority of at least 47,000 with many political liberals – who would not even consider voting for Orban’s Fidesz party, a nationalist accused of corruption, calcium for complicity in the Holocaust, and xenophobia. others against Jews. But he can not force himself to vote for the opposition because of Jobbik. “I am a descendant of Holocaust survivors. How could I vote for fascists? “Of course I can not,” Pretz told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Some of Jobbik’s 600 members formed the far-right “Magyar Garda” wing, or Hungarian guard post, during their swearing-in ceremony in Budapest, Hungary, on October 21, 2007, wearing black uniforms wearing a variation of the red and white Arpad Stripes. associated with Hungary’s Alrow Cross Nazi alignment with World War II (AP Photo / Bela Szandelszky In 2012, one of Jobbik’s lawmakers called on parliament to register all Jews in Hungary. This legislator, Marton Gyongyosi, now represents Jobbik in the European Parliament. Peter Jakab (Wikipedia) The party’s current leader, Peter Jakab, a Catholic with Jewish roots, in 2014 accused Jews of anti-Semitism and abusing the memory of the Holocaust for financial gain. His predecessor, Tamas Sneider, is a former skinhead who confessed to beating a Roma man with metal wires in 1992 in an alleged racist attack. Despite this history, Jobbik in 2019 joined veterans, painted left-wing parties such as the Green Party and the Hungarian Socialist Party in an opposition alliance now running against Orban’s party with the United ticket to Hungary ticket. Jobbik sought to tarnish its racist image by, among other things, sending Hanukkah greetings to prominent rabbis in Hungary. “The kind of anti-Semitic rhetoric that took place on Jobbik earlier is unimaginable,” said former party leader Gabor Vona in 2017. Hungarian liberals, Jews and leaders of the Jewish community remained skeptical of this face of Jobbik leaders, especially as they coincided with new racist scandals. The astonishing cooperation of the parties on diametrically opposed sides of the ideological spectrum that for years expressed intense hostility between them was both unexpected and controversial. He has caused dissent and condemnation by hardliners from his two main bodies. It has also externally criticized, including Orban, the perceived moral flexibility of its members. But the alliance was effective beyond any doubt, threatening Orban’s leadership. His party won the 2018 election by 30 points against the second, Jobbik. Now, for the first time in 12 years in office, Orban faces the prospect of losing power. Polls give United for Hungary 45% of the vote, just 5 points behind Orban. If the Two Tailed Dog Party, which is not in the alliance but is hostile to Orban, exceeds the 5% threshold and then joins a coalition with the alliance, Orban could be ousted and Jobbik relocated to power. If that happens, Hungary will become a “fascist country” for Tomi Rosza, a 52-year-old Jewish financier and father from Budapest who intends to vote for Fidesz on Sunday. “If the opposition alliance,” which is indeed completely infected with Jobbik, wins, we will do aliyah, “he said, using the Hebrew word for immigration to Israel. “If that happens, I do not want to stay here.” Eszter Sinko is also considering aliyah in connection with the election, but said she plans to pack her bags if Orban is re-elected. Her main complaint with the Orban government is the corruption she and others see, she said. He may vote for the opposition coalition, even though he thinks Jobbik is anti-Semitic, or for the Two Tailed Dog Party. “It’s very sad,” said Shinko, a 47-year-old economist, about the political situation in her country. Even Orban’s Jewish voters criticize some of his policies concerning Jews. Rosa, for example, believes that Orban promoted the whitewashing of Hungarian complicity in the Holocaust by supporting a monument erected in Budapest in 2014. He depicts an eagle attacking an angel during the Nazi occupation of Hungary. Rosza is among many Jewish critics who see the statue as an attempt to portray Hungary, whose pro-Nazi governments helped kill hundreds of thousands of Jews, as mere victims. Orban has rejected this interpretation of the statue, which was erected despite strong Jewish opposition. This has prompted Mazsihisz, the largest Jewish group in Hungary, to suspend all business with the government and has even drawn criticism from EMIH, a Chabad-affiliated Jewish group that tends to be more friendly than Mazsihisz with Orban. (Chabad, a Hasidic Orthodox movement, tends to seek cooperation with governments of any orientation, as long as they do not threaten the Jews.) Both Jewish groups enjoy significant state funding and have opened at least 20 new synagogues under Orban. Many Hungarian Jews are pleased with this renewal and the fact that, at a time when anti-Semitic violence is making headlines throughout Europe, such incidents are rare in Hungary. However, Jewish voters like Pretz are both worried about Fidesz and Jobbik. “On the right side of Fidesz, it is very close to the fascists,” Pretz said. Orban has been attacked, including by members of the Jewish community, for rhetoric they fear could encourage anti-Semitism, including the 2017 and 2018 government campaign against Hungarian billionaire Jewish billionaire George W. Orban. . (Soros is a frequent target of anti-Semitic criticism.) This poster with American billionaire George Soros in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, reads: “We can not let Soros laugh at the last one.” It was part of a government campaign on July 6, 2017. (Attila Kisbenedek / AFP / Getty Images) Rosza rejects these allegations, arguing that, in his view, Fidesz generally does not allow anti-Semitic speech and generally has little tolerance for this form of racism. It also favors Fidesz tax cuts, financial support for large families to encourage reproduction, restrictive immigration policies and opposition to the teaching of progressive racial and gender ideas in schools, Rosza said. But most Hungarian Jews do not seem to support Fidesz, Rosza said. “They traditionally support the left. Even when the left is allied with the fascists. “I can not understand it,” he said. (There are no polls on how Hungarian Jews vote, representing less than 1% of the population.) Judit Csaki, a Jewish cultural journalist from Budapest, offered an explanation. “At least half the country thinks Orban is so bad that whoever opposes him should be better,” he said. “Russia’s war against Ukraine, in which Orban has taken a less firm stance against Vladimir Putin than the rest of the European Union, to which Hungary belongs, has proved it further,” said Tsaki, 65. “I am voting for the opposition, of course, because I want this to end,” he said. “It’s very bad for the country, for my morale and for the cultural sector in which I work.” And how would he feel when Jobbik politicians came to real power as cabinet ministers? “It depends on the ministry,” he said. “And at least the whole country will not be in Orban’s hands as it is at the moment.”
