The Foreign Ministry has rebuked controversial Likud MK Oren Hazan for meeting with a Holocaust denier during a visit to Bulgaria last week.
Hazan held meetings with several Bulgarian government officials, including the leader of the far-right Attack party, Volen Siderov, whom the Foreign Ministry considers an anti-Semite and a Holocaust denier.
Hazan did not coordinate his visit with the Foreign Ministry, as is customary for MKs. In an interview he gave in Bulgaria, Hazan said he had been invited by the Bulgarian parliament as a guest of the deputy speaker. Hazan said he had even met with the acting prime minister and defense minister.
In a Facebook post, Hazan confessed that he had met with a Holocaust denier, and apologized.
A Foreign Ministry official told Israel Hayom, "MK Hazan went [to Bulgaria] on his own. He set up meetings without coordinating anything with us or with the [Israeli] embassy. This is how he happened to meet with a far-right anti-Semite, a Holocaust denier – a meeting that is totally unacceptable.
"He [Hazan] talks as if he was on a reconciliation visit, but that wasn't the direction [of the trip] at all. As far as the Bulgarians are concerned, this was a member of the governing party, and these meetings – especially with an anti-Semite – cause damage. It was inappropriate."
When contacted by Israel Hayom for a response, Hazan claimed that he had coordinated his visit through the Knesset Ethics Committee.
"I don't need permission from the Foreign Ministry," he said. "I held a lot of meetings there that opened doors and strengthened ties between Israel and Bulgaria, and even helped sway things toward the Bulgarian Embassy [in Israel] being moved to Jerusalem. There was a meeting with the chairman of the governing coalition and a few other members of government, and in one there was a man who wrote or translated a book about [Hitler's] 'Mein Kampf.'
"He said he apologized for what he had said, and I told him he needed to do it publicly. It's sad that bitter, outdated, worn-out officials are bothered by a young MK achieving what couldn't be done for years. It would be right for the Foreign Ministry to help keep strengthening ties."
