Conservatives and the phantom of anti-Semitism

Roger Kimball:

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And a quick reality check on Orbán’s supposed anti-Semitism. What he is undeniably guilty of is anti-Sorosism, as in George Soros, the billionaire enemy of nations and the spirit of conservatism. At the same time, his government has passed a law against Holocaust denial (as Christopher Caldwell points out in an essay I will come to below), established a Holocaust Memorial Day, reopened Jewish cultural sites, and refused to cooperate with Jobbik, the leading opposition party, which had a history of anti-Semitic provocations. In fact, Orbán is anti-Semitic in the same sense that Donald Trump is anti-Semitic, which is to say, he is not anti-Semitic.

Then there is “The Illiberal Temptation,” Gabriel Schoenfeld’s essay in The American Interest. Schoenfeld, like Applebaum and Boot, is deeply exercised by the spectacle of Viktor Orbán sticking up for Hungary. And like both Applebaum and Boot, he is especially horrified that some conservatives have given aid and succor not only the Orbán but also—imagine!—to Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and—horror of horrors—to Donald Trump.
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Jews are safer walking the streets of Hungary than those of other European countries.  The same could be said for dangers of Jews walking the streets of liberal New York.  Just because someone rejects the evils of liberalism does not mean they hate Jews.  Jew hatred is more on the left in recent times.

By the way, opposing Soros is just a matter of intelligence.  His objectives are inconsistent with American and conservative values.  His objectives would do great harm to Western Civilization.  Hungary is wise to oppose him.  He is opposed because of his values and not because of his DNA.