Rabbi Slomo Koves has released a video explaining the antisemitic sentiment behind the criticism of the state of Israel.
Slomo Koves, the executive rabbi of the Unified Hungarian Jewish Congregation (EMIH) since its founding in 2004 and the initiator of the founding of the Action and Protection Foundation, has released a video detailing the connection between antisemitism and the criticism of Israel.
In his video, Rabbi Koves explains why the criticism of the state of Israel is antisemitic. Koves details the „3D test,” developed by one of the most famous Jewish figures of the twentieth century, the widely-celebrated freedom fighter, the Israeli politician Natan Sharansky. The three Ds of antisemitism is a set of criteria developed to distinguish legitimate criticism of Israel from antisemitism—the three Ds stand for demonisation, double standards and delegitimisation.
Demonisation is when events in Israel are demonised, when those who criticise the Israeli state claim that Israel acts towards the Palestinians as the Nazis acted towards the Jews; when these people talk about Israel, they depict it as if it is something demonic, something corrupt to the core.
The second D is double standard, when Israel is heavily criticised, for example, for the alleged violations or restrictions of human rights, by people who do not criticise other states for the same or who themselves violate these rights to a more serious degree.
The third D is delegitimisation; when someone talks about Israel as if Israel had no right to exist, speaking of Israel as an apartheid state, as if Jews had nothing to do with the Holy Land, or as if they have stolen it from others.
According to Rabbi Koves, if one does not pass the 3D test, their criticism cannot be considered a legitimate criticism but one that reeks of antisemitism.