Israel’s Ambassador to Romania Reuven Azar has met with the head of Romania’s far-right AUR party.
Israel hasn’t always been willing to engage with extreme-right European politicians, yet some in the Likud Party who see this as a strategic opportunity, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Joined by Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, the three on Monday publicly acknowledged Romania’s role in the Holocaust and pledged to combat antisemitism. Simion expressed his support for the Jewish people’s historical right to „inhabit and construct settlements in Judea and Samaria, regions with deep Jewish historical roots,” according to a statement on behalf of Dagan.
This announcement from AUR signifies a major shift in European Union politics. Dagan’s efforts in this transformative diplomacy were evident, starting with an informal meeting between him and Simion in January, the Post reported.
Their discussions were all undertaken with the approval of Foreign Minister Eli Cohen.
In January 2022, Likud lawmakers were instructed to have nothing to do with the Romanian AUR Party on the grounds that it is antisemitic.
Then-Likud foreign affairs director and spokesman Eli Hazan wrote to all of the party’s lawmakers, “AUR was elected to the parliament and is growing in popularity, in part because it is anti-establishment and opposes vaccines and restrictions. This party is antisemitic,” he said.
AUR issued a statement saying: „the leader of the AUR Party acknowledged the responsibility of Romania for the Holocaust of the Romanian Jews, in the territories controlled by Romania during World War II, and expressed his deepest regret.”
He specified that „such horrors should never happen again to Jews, Romanians, Romani, or any other nations of the world.”
Simion added that every country, including Romania, should adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism „and teach, within national history subject, this important page of the past, in order to make sure that all the future generations will know and understand the lack of humanity of those times and why it is vital to avoid such horrors.”
Commenting on the development, Dagan remarked, „Our relentless fight against…. and antisemitism continues. We value allies like George Simion, who are committed to combating anti-Semitism and supporting Israel’s strategic interests.”
In 2022, AUR said the Holocaust was a “minor topic,” and teaching it as a separate subject in schools is an “ideological experiment” and part of a “systematic action to undermine the quality of education in Romania.”
