Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed strong support for the expansion of a Hungarian-developed artificial intelligence system designed to detect and report antisemitic content online. Speaking in Jerusalem to a delegation from Hungary’s Action and Protection Foundation (TEV), Netanyahu warned that the surge in antisemitic hate speech across Europe directly affects Israel’s national security, reports The Jerusalem Post.
The system, already in use in Germany and Austria, identifies antisemitic rhetoric across major social media platforms and refers serious cases to the relevant authorities. TEV’s president, Kálmán Szalai, told Netanyahu that the foundation plans to deploy the tool in most European Union countries within the next year. Netanyahu welcomed the initiative and called for its wider adoption, noting that antisemitic hatred—both online and offline—impacts not only Jewish communities abroad but also the State of Israel itself.
During the meeting, TEV presented alarming data on the dramatic rise in antisemitism across Europe since 2020, with incidents escalating significantly following the October 7 Hamas attacks. In Germany, the number of antisemitic incidents rose from 1,957 in 2020 to 4,886 in 2023. Online expressions of antisemitism nearly doubled in 2024, reaching 8,627 cases. Approximately a quarter of those incidents were categorised as anti-Israel antisemitism. In the United Kingdom, the number of incidents increased from 1,662 in 2020 to 4,106 in 2023, with 1,774 cases directly linked to the Israel–Gaza conflict. Even in Hungary, which Jewish leaders often consider relatively safe, online antisemitic incidents increased from 45 in 2022 to 128 in 2023. By 2024, that figure had surged to 664, with more than half of those cases linked to anti-Israel sentiments.
Szalai explained that TEV’s response to this rise includes not only monitoring and reporting but also comprehensive victim support services such as legal aid, psychological counselling, and security assistance. He stressed that the drastic increase in hate crimes demands robust institutional protection. Education and media literacy form another pillar of TEV’s work. The foundation runs classroom programmes teaching students how to recognise both classical and modern antisemitic tropes, which often appear disguised as anti-Zionism, and how to report such incidents. Szalai highlighted “50 Minutes,” a current-affairs programme on Hungary’s Jewish cable channel Neshama TV, as an example of fact-based coverage that includes Israeli documentaries and educational content.
The meeting between Netanyahu and TEV came less than a year after the Prime Minister’s official visit to Hungary, during which he praised the country as one of the safest for Jews and discussed deepening cooperation with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Szalai, who last met Netanyahu in 2020, explained that TEV was founded by the Chabad-Lubavitch-affiliated Association of Hungarian Jewish Communities (EMIH), under the leadership of Chief Rabbi Shlomo Köves. The foundation also collaborates with the Hungarian government and engages a diverse range of Jewish communities, including Reform congregations.
According to Israeli officials, the spike in antisemitism following the October 7 massacre has shifted the issue from the margins into mainstream public discourse and physical intimidation on the streets. By endorsing the EU expansion of TEV’s monitoring system, Netanyahu has firmly placed the fight against antisemitism within Israel’s national security agenda. His support signals Israel’s readiness to promote effective, practical tools for combating antisemitism in cooperation with democratic partners across Europe.
Photo credit: COURTESY OF TEV
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