The leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, Gheorghe Simion, publicly asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs Luminica Odobescu to explain why he did not meet with the head of Israeli diplomacy, Eli Cohen, and if she refused to meet with the Israeli colleague, because “it would encourage the Israeli ambassador in Bucharest to contact with the leader of the AUR party.”

“According to an article published on Tuesday, September 19, in the Haaretz newspaper, Luminica Odobescu would cancel a planned meeting with the head of Israeli diplomacy, Eli Cohen, on the grounds that he would encourage contact by the Israeli ambassador. in Bucharest with AUR party leader George Simion. According to the Haaretz journalist, Cohen’s gesture would infuriate the Romanian minister, who would consider that dialogue with the Alliance for the Union of Romanians is unacceptable for the Israeli side,” reports AUR.

AUR states that “George Simion has asked the Romanian Foreign Minister to clarify whether the information presented in the Israeli press is true or false, and if they are not true, the ministry in Bucharest will be officially asked to deny the news. “.

“Such an incident, if confirmed, represents a serious and unauthorized participation of the head of Romanian diplomacy in the political games of both countries and an unprecedented attack on the image and interests of Romania,” the formation said.

On September 19, Haaretz wrote that “although a Romanian news site reported that the invitation was declined due to Cohen’s order to Israel’s ambassador to Romania to meet with the far-right AUR party last month, a government source said it was due to the minister’s schedule during a visit to New -York”.

On September 14, G4Media, citing government sources, wrote that the Israeli ambassador in Bucharest was informally exploring the ground for organizing a meeting in New York between the two ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, without making an official request, but the meeting with Luminița Odobescu did not take place because of that busy agenda of the Romanian side. On the other hand, Minister Eli Cohen received an invitation from Minister Odobescu to visit Romania in June, but he did not follow through.

The meeting between Ambassador Reuven Azar and George Simeon was criticized by the Elie Wiesel Institute, the Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, and Romanian politicians, who accused Israeli diplomacy of supporting a party whose leaders have consistently taken anti-Semitic and denialist positions.

Reuven Hazard was no longer received by Romanian government officials after meeting the AUR leadership, political sources told G4Media, who assessed that the incident “no longer allows (the ambassador) the same level and standard of representation.”

AUR leader George Simion met on August 28 in the parliament with Israeli ambassador Reuven Azar and Yossi Dagan, a member of the ruling Likud party, head of the Shomron region in Israel.

The meeting took place in the context of the fact that in early August, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen insisted on changing Israel’s policy towards the AUR party in Romania, which held anti-Semitic positions and denied the Holocaust, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

The Israeli embassy was later forced to clarify after the meeting with George Simion, the institution claimed that it “was not held to undermine, but to support the fight against anti-Semitism” and was an “opportunity” that it provided “to start a constructive dialogue, not a white paper”.

Sources at Israel’s official Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, told the Jerusalem Post that Simeon’s statements were not entirely up to par.