Defense analysts estimated that the selected platform is Rafael's SPYDER air defense system, which has gained adoption across multiple European nations. This truck-mounted system features launchers for Python-5 missiles equipped with radar and active infrared homing technology, providing effectiveness against diverse aerial threats, including unmanned aircraft, helicopters, and various fighter aircraft.

The SPYDER configuration comprises a launch vehicle, a command and control unit, and a support vehicle that resupplies missiles to the launcher. The system demonstrated operational effectiveness during Israel's Iron Swords conflict on the northern front.

Romania's latest defense procurement follows approximately one month after its decision to acquire 41 Iron Dome launchers. Similar to the current announcement, that contract also remains unpublished, leaving unclear the precise configuration of Romania's Iron Dome acquisition.

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Calin Georgescu was not a household name in Romania and elsewhere until the current election cycle. Even as a candidate, he was not a promising one as polls conducted on the eve of the elections predicted he would gain 5% of the votes, a result that would have left him far behind his other opponents. In reality, however, Georgescu did not only win approximately 22.9% of the votes, he also positioned himself as the leading candidate and will advance to the December 8 runoff against a more mainstream candidate who won around 19% of the votes.

Georgescu's clear lead worries many in Romania, as well as in Europe more broadly, as he is a known supporter of President Vladimir Putin, denied the existence of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and is a supporter of rethinking and reevaluating Romania's role and participation in NATO, the strongest military alliance in the world. His achievement should also worry European Jewry and the State of Israel as he is a fan of Ion Antonescu, the Romanian dictator and Nazi collaborator, which Georecscu called a "martyr" who did "good deeds."

These opinions gained traction in the popular social media app TikTok, the most used platform in Romania. Unrelated to Georgescu, but very much in line with some of his positions, TikTok failed in the past to monitor and remove Nazi videos from the platform, at some point numbering 73K videos. The app's algorithm, a company secret, is said to have expanded the exposure of 200 Nazi-supporting accounts, gaining millions of views. Some 50 Nazi videos that were reported were classified by the company as not violating its community guidelines.

However, the candidate's antisemitic remarks were not the main concern regarding his campaign. The rapid increase in the number of Georgescu's TikTok followers and the pattern of their engagement with his posts raised suspicions of inauthenticity as experts claimed that he deployed a large number of bots. Furthermore, the network of influencers advocating for him raised further concerns about the lack of transparency about his payments to those influencers, and the lack of proper identification as members of a political campaign, as required. Some even blame the Chinese-controlled app for not designating Georgescu as a political figure, lifting certain limitations on his content and profile.

These allegations led to the CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, being summoned to testify before the European Parliament, which some of its members suspect the platform broke EU rules regarding regulating social media outlets and their interference with political campaigns and elections. This is not the first time TikTok is seen as meddling in European elections. In the elections for the European representative body, TikTok approved all 16 political ads containing disinformation, while X removed all of them, and Youtube removed all but two.

TikTok, even more than other social media platforms, is increasingly perceived to be meddling in an ever-growing number of elections worldwide, including in EU countries, the United States, and Taiwan. This development requires all countries, but especially democracies, to craft and enforce rules and demand transparency from the platforms. This includes Israel, which is far behind other Western nations when it comes to managing these threats.

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Romanian police raided the home of internet personality Andrew Tate on Wednesday as part of a new investigation into crimes including human trafficking and money laundering, the influencer's representatives said.

A self-described misogynist, Tate has gained millions of fans by promoting an ultra-masculine lifestyle that critics say denigrates women.

"Although the allegations in the search warrant are not yet fully clarified, they include suspicions of human trafficking and money laundering," Tate's representatives said in a statement on Wednesday. "The brothers' legal team is present to ensure that all formalities are carried out correctly."

Romania's Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) said on Wednesday it had conducted four home search warrants within Ilfov county and the Bucharest municipality. It said the investigation concerned "A criminal case regarding the commission of the crimes of setting up an organized criminal group, trafficking of minors, human trafficking, sexual intercourse with a minor, influencing statements, and money laundering." The hearings will be held at the headquarters of DIICOT – Central Structure.

Your crimes are going to catch up with you.

Police raid Andrew Tate's home in Romania as new allegations emerge involving minorshttps://t.co/SAfzINKrHf

— Darian T. NAFO (@carroll_darian) August 21, 2024

 He was already indicted in mid-2023 along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian female suspects for human trafficking, rape, and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, allegations they denied. In July, a Romanian court of appeal overturned a previous ruling that allowed Tate free movement within the European Union while awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking.

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Officials in the Romanian capital are on high alert after a Syrian man tried to torch the building housing the Israeli embassy by throwing a Molotov cocktail, which caused a small fire but no casualties.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated: "Earlier today, a man, apparently of Syrian origin, arrived near the Israeli Embassy building in Romania. During the inspection, he took out a Molotov cocktail, lit it, and threw it towards the entrance door to the lobby of the building. The local security forces immediately took control of him and arrested him. There were no injuries in the incident and no damage was caused. The suspect was handed over to the local authorities for investigation."

Yesterday, I was in Bucharest talking about Israel -- today, a Molotov cocktail was thrown into the Israeli Embassy there.

Let's be clear - WE ARE NOT SCARED OF THEM. Those who try to terrorize us should be scared.

— Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) June 3, 2024

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George Simion is one of the most famous names in Romanian politics at the moment. The 36-year-old politician founded his right-wing Alliance for the Union of Romanians faction a mere three and a half years ago but is already considered a major threat ahead of the elections for the presidency, the Chamber of Deputies, the municipal authorities and the European Parliament, to be held in 2024. 

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In the previous general elections, which were held about a year and a half after the establishment of the AUR, the party received a tenth of all the parliament seats, becoming the fourth largest faction. 

Video: PM Netanyahu meets with Romania's prime minister (2019) / Credit: GPO

Romania suffers from chronic political instability having had 11 governments in the past decade, mainly due to a divided political map, affairs, scandals as well as a difficult economic situation. The strongest faction in the country is still the Social Democratic Party, a member of the National Liberals, the second largest in the parliament. The rotation between the heads of the parties, which was postponed due to the waves of protest and strikes by the country's teachers, took place this week, and despite the withdrawal of one of the coalition parties, the new government won the confidence of 290 out of 465 members of parliament.

The four basic tenets of the AUR are family, nation, Christianity, and freedom. Behind Simion's desk, a window was designed as a map of Greater Romania, which also includes Moldova, and indeed the faction advocates for the unification of the two nations as used to be under the Kingdom of Romania. This, among others, is why Simion and the AUR are claimed by their opponents to be neo-fascist and pro-Russian. 

The AUR defines itself as patriotic and Christian-democratic, seeks to protect the rights of Romanians, values religion, and opposes "gender ideology" and abortion. 

The faction is currently trying to be accepted into the ranks of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party, a faction of right-wing European parties currently headed by the Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni, and since the Romanian media is mostly mobilized on the side of the political establishment, the party has made social networks its main means of conveying messages. 

Simion, "a guy from the hood" who has cultivated an image of a sincere and honest politician, lives with his wife in a modest apartment in Bucharest and reportedly donates 90% of his salary every month to charities. 

In local politics, which is seen as corrupt to the core, Simion is a refreshing change. He may run for the presidency or set his eyes on the premiership. 

Romania's loss 

Simion's political opponents say he and his party are ideologically similar to the antisemitic regime of the dictator former Prime Minister of Romania Ion Antonescu and his allies, the so-called "legionaries" from the Iron Guard that was responsible for the death of Romanian Jews during the Holocaust. About 400,000 Romanian Jews were murdered by Nazi collaborators in Romania and in areas under its control.

It took Romania a long time to accept responsibility for its crimes against the Jews, which also continued under the communist regime. Despite the accusations against Simion, he has no history of antisemitic remarks and makes sure to remove from the ranks of his party any elected official with extremist behavior. In the past, he visited Israel privately and hopes to make an official visit soon. 

Jerusalem is still unsure about Simion and the AUR, as there are other sovereign right-wing parties in Europe that are getting stronger politically. In an exclusive interview with Israel Hayom, Simion sought to clarify his positions regarding Jews, the Holocaust, and Israel.

Q: Israelis of Romanian origin are often encouraged to get their Romanian citizenship. And you and your party have called on the return of all Romanians to the country. Do you consider these Israelis Romanians as well? 

"Of course. There were times in our history when we were a large and respected country in the international arena. Many Jews of Romanian origin helped us win this recognition. For example, Ana Aslan (a biologist and physicist) who invented the Gerovital (anti-aging drug), which helps a lot for medical tourism in Romania. The many Jews who left Romania in the 1960s and 1970s are, in my opinion, a great loss for us. Now we barely have 10,000-20,000 Jews living here. We had excellent ties. Minorities can help us become a more diverse and richer society."

Q: Do you mean religious minorities? abo

"As well as national ones. We have Serbs, Hungarians, Ukrainians, and Russians who fled from the tsar but say they are Tatars or Turks. It's good that we are not alone. Every people and nation has its characteristics. At a time when we were a large country, between the two world wars, you – the Jews – helped us. We recently celebrated in the Romanian parliament 75 years since the recognition of the State of Israel and the establishment of diplomatic tiwa between Romania and Israel in the presence of the Speaker of the Knesset" Amir Ohana. 

Interestingly, Romania was the only communist country that did not sever ties with Israel after the 1967 Six-Day War. 

Today "there's a problem in the ties between us, it is related to the memory of the Holocaust. This issue has been hijacked by a group of people who are looking to make gains. These people are causing a lot of damage because we are a party that will most likely be a member of the government in Romania, and we can be friends with Israel from a position of power. I am sure, from everything I see in the international arena, that Israel needs friends. In my vision of the future, I am interested in properly using the 800,000 Israeli citizens of Romanian origin. This is an opportunity we are not taking advantage of."

Holocaust should not be part of political games

Simion does not take kindly to the fact that some in Romania demand that Jewish history and the Holocaust be taught in all high schools as separate compulsory subjects – such as language, history, and geography - and even passed a law on the matter. 

"True, there are a small number of lunatics here who claim that the Holocaust did not happen," he said. "But besides them, no one in Romania denies that this is one of the most terrible events in the history of mankind.

"We said that it is desirable to teach the subject as part of Romanian history classes because it is part of our history and that is how it should be taught. They have pushed the matter too far, so that there will be separate classes on Jewish history, and I don't think that is good in the long run.

"Today we do not have antisemitic feelings in our society, and we have to fight so that there are no such feelings. Israel's enemies spread antisemitism by claiming that you are the rulers of the world. When you go to school and do not learn about the history of Romania, but you have mandatory lessons about the history of the Jews, it may backfire. Several groups in Romania are pushing this agenda for personal gain, and we have heard accusations against our party. Holocaust memory should not be part of the political game under any circumstances."

Q: Do you recognize the responsibility of the Romanian state for the crimes committed against Jews in World War II?

"No one is denying it. This was the Romanian state, even if it was led by a dictator."

Q: There were pogroms and anti-Jewish laws even before the time of Antonescu, as early as 1938.

"Indeed, there was antisemitic legislation carried out by King Carol II. He was a dictator, Antonescu was a dictator, [former President of Romania Nicolae] Ceausescu was a dictator. We lived under several dictatorships. There were then ethnic problems and many antisemitic attitudes in our society. Fortunately, today there are no such attitudes, and we need to find the right path to prevent their reemergence."

Q: Those who admire war criminals like Antonescu and other dictators are not allowed to join your party? 

"There are admirers in Romania of Ceausescu, of Antonescu, of Zelea Codreanu (the founder of the Iron Guard). I do not admire any of them. But if we try to dictate to people how to think and conduct a witch hunt, we will revive the past. Our party was founded in 2019, on Romania's national holiday. We are interested in the future, not in a witch hunt."

Q: But you yourself have explicitly stated that Antonescu was a war criminal. 

"Yes, according to an ethical and legal definition."

Q: Laws are not necessarily always enforced in Romania, which is the responsibility of the government. If you end up in the government, will you implement the laws against the veneration of war criminals or against naming streets and memorial sites after them?

"After 2001, no more streets or sites bear Antonescu's name. Maybe you can find somewhere a memorial plaque with his name from those days, but the issue is quite closed. The law must be enforced in all areas of Romania, but it is important not to abuse the issue because it will lead to antisemitism that we are not interested in. There are parts of the Romanian population that look favorably on Antonescu, Ceausescu, and other dictators. Not necessarily for antisemitic reasons but because they were the rulers, and some people believe that under their leadership Romania was better off. So we have to be careful not to provoke these feelings.

"I regret that there are no Jews here in large numbers. Romanians could not leave the country under the communist regime. Had they been able to, they would have left and paid money to do it." 

Q: Is your party willing to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism? 

"I have not yet read this document. I understand that it also refers to certain negative attitudes towards the State of Israel. We recognize Israel and we can be its official partner. You can count on our friendship with Israel if correct relations exist between the two sides."

Q: Right behind you are the flags of Romania and the European Union. We know that there are Romanian minorities in neighboring countries that are members of the EU. Are you thinking about changing borders within the EU? 

"We respect all international treaties. The only country with which we can change the border is Moldova. Both sides are interested in it. The last clause of the Détente agreements adopted in Helsinki in 1975 stated that if a country wants to unite with an existing country or separate from an existing country, it can be done by agreement of both sides. We want minority rights to be respected everywhere. For example, in Ukraine – half a million Romanians live there.

"We are a model for respecting the rights of minorities. We have Jews, Slovaks, Hungarians and gypsies in the parliament. There are schools for Serbs and Ukrainians. They have their own churches, which receive government support. We want these opportunities to be given to Romanians who live in neighboring countries, as well as in Italy, France or Spain – their own schools and churches, the right to use their own language."

Q: Regarding Moldova, if Russia invades it, will it be an incentive for the union between Romania and Moldova?

"Assuming that's what the citizens of Moldova want. Maybe some of them, who still think of the Russian empire, will change their minds when they see these criminals in action. These are criminals. We'll see what happens. It's hard to predict public opinion."

Q: There's also fears that Russia could expand its war. Do you think Romania might be a target?

"We are members of NATO. We don't think Russia, which is weak now, will attack a NATO member. We must promote peace by all means."

Q: And if the war does expand, is Romania ready?

"NATO is the largest and most powerful military alliance, and I'm sure it will have no problem dealing with such a scenario, which I don't think will happen."

Q: And with regard to your party, how would you define it? 

"A patriotic party that remembers the words of Donald Trump, who said that the fight is now between globalists and patriots. We are patriots."

Q: It's not often these days that you hear someone quoting the former US president. 

"It might be uncommon, but his words were true. My feeling is that we are fighting the same adversaries – the Left and the extreme Left, who are trying to promote an agenda and abolish the idea of nations. Trump made some bad statements and behaved badly at times, but he also had the right statements. I will always prefer Trump over Biden."

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Romanian officials commemorated for the first time the victims of the sinking of the Struma 80 years ago, which was carrying hundreds of Holocaust survivors from Romania.

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The ceremony took place on Tuesday in the coastal town of Constanţa, in southern Romania, from where the ship left port in 1941 with around 770 people, including more than 100 children and 10 crew members.

A Red Army submarine mistook the Struma for a hostile vessel after Turkish authorities towed it away from the dock in Istanbul and left it in international waters without a working engine or anchor. Only one person survived.

During the ceremony, which was attended by around 80 people, Romanian Rear Admiral Mihai Panait, the country's Navy commander-in-chief, and Florin Goidea, the port director of Constanţa, laid wreaths on the waters next to the wharf where the Struma set sail.

"This is the first time that Romania has officially commemorated the tragedy of Struma on its soil and it is part of the efforts of successive governments in recent years to confront the past and the events of the Holocaust era, when the half of the country's Jewish community was murdered," said Israeli Ambassador to Romania David Saranga.

The Struma was trying to carry nearly 800 Jewish refugees from Axis-allied Romania to Mandatory Palestine when it was sunk on Feb. 24, 1942.

It was the largest civilian Black Sea naval disaster of World War II.

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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A recent statement by the right-wing, populist Alliance for the Union of Romanians party that Romania's school system should cut back on Holocaust education and focus on "Romanian national values" has caused an uproar in the eastern European country.

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The party published a declaration calling on the government to focus on "meaningful subjects" such as "hard sciences, Romanian language and literature, and the history of the Romanian nation" and criticizing the school system for teaching what it deemed "minor matters": the Holocaust and sex education.

"The government is trying to undermine the quality of education in Romania and raise a weak generation that does not know its values," the party's message stated.

Regarding the statements minimizing the tragedy of the Holocaust:
I firmly condemn the insulting attitude and statements made by some political leaders in #Romania who have found it right to qualify the genocide of the #Holocaust as a "minor topic" for the educational system. 1/6 pic.twitter.com/gXPgeTC10E

— David Saranga (@DavidSaranga) January 4, 2022

Israeli Ambassador to Romania David Saranga responded to the party's message on Twitter, saying that it fell under the criteria of antisemitism and asking the party for a retraction.

Co-president of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians Claudiu Târziu tweeted a response to Saranga's objections: "We're Christians, so we can't be antisemitic."

Târziu acknowledged the "horrors perpetrated by the Nazis," but did not mention that Romania's fascist regime had cooperated with the Nazis. Anywhere from 280,000-380,000 Romania Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.

The Romanian government official in charge of combating antisemitism, Alexandru Muraru, said that the party's message was "unacceptable" and hinted that the party should be disqualified from running in future elections.

"The party is a threat to the constitutional order in the country," Muraru said.

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Romanian police were investigating on Sunday death threats made against award-winning film and theater star Maia Morgenstern and her children at the start of Passover celebrations.

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Morgenstern, who played the figure of Mary in Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" and runs the Jewish State Theater in Bucharest, published an email she received in which the author threatens to violently kill Morgenstern and her children, as well as set fire to the Jewish theater and its staff.

The email was signed "on behalf of the far right Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR)," although its leader George Simion condemned the threat, saying it was not issued by the party, and urged authorities to quickly find and punish its author.

Police said they were tracking the IP address of the email sender.

The ultra-nationalist party AUR was formed a year ago and surprised in a December general election to become the fourth-largest party in parliament.

Unlike some of its central and European peers, Romania did not have a mainstream party supporting far-right ideas until December's parliamentary election, although these had surfaced in well-established parties too.

Romania was an ally of Nazi Germany until August 1944, when it changed sides, and hundreds of thousands of Romanian and Ukrainian Jews and Roma were killed in areas it controlled.

The European Union state has only in recent years begun to come to terms with its role in the Holocaust, admitting for the first time in 2003 that it took part. Sensitivity about the Holocaust and knowledge of it remain patchy.

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An international commission headed by Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel concluded in 2004 that between 280,000 and 380,000 Romanian and Ukrainian Jews were killed in Romania and areas it controlled during the war, as an ally of Nazi Germany.

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Romania has only recently started to come to terms with its role in the extermination of Jews, admitting for the first time in 2003 that it had taken part.

The new museum, in coordination with the Elie Wiesel Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania, aims to promote Romanian Jewish history, culture, and traditions and highlight Romanian Jews' contribution to the modernization of Romanian society.

"The Romanian state demonstrates consistency in meeting the goal aimed at recovering the memory of the Holocaust, strengthening the education about the Holocaust and combating anti-Semitism," Iohannis said in comments to members of the Wiesel Institute and local Jewish community leaders.

The museum will be located in an 8,000 square meter (8,600 square foot), eight-story building erected on the central Calea Victoriei avenue in 1943-1946 by international tire producer Banloc-Goodrich for its employees.

Romania switched sides in the war in 1944 as the Soviet Red Army swept down into the Balkans. The Communist regime which then took power did little to uncover the killings of Jews.

Romania was home to 750,000 Jews before the war, but only 8,000-10,000 remain today.

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The German government will also make retroactive payments, to cover the last 20 years, so that every survivor is set to receive a total sum of anywhere between 96,000 to 192,000 shekels ($27,000 to $54,300), in addition to the pension they will receive from this point forward. As a result, Berlin is expected to pay the survivors around a 1.5 billion shekels ($420 million) in reparations.

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The survivors in question are Jews who lived in 20 cities around Romania and were either directly or indirectly impacted by Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu's collaboration with the Nazi regime, or the Nazis themselves following Antonescu's removal from power.

Heirs to Romanian Holocaust survivors born after 1910 and died after June 1, 2002 will also be eligible to sue for reparations from the German government.

In addition, the 8,000 survivors will receive a monthly 2,000 shekel ($566) stipend from the Finance Ministry's Holocaust Survivors' Rights Authority. To be eligible for the stipend, survivors must have lived or been deported from the cities of Iași, Galați, Piatra Neamț, Constanța, Ștefănești, and Bacău, among others, during the Holocaust.

The agreement was reached following intense negotiations over 10 months between Jerusalem and Berlin. The Israeli claim, which has now been recognized as justified by the German government was based on extensive research led and carried out by the Social Equality Ministry.

Led by Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel and Ministry Director General Avi Cohen-Scali. Among those who took part in the talks were officials from the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum and the Foreign Ministry.

Gamliel said, "This is a day of historic justice, which comes after 10 months of very intensive negotiations. The financial compensation will not bring back those we have lost and cannot make up for the pain and the tragedy. But it does have the ability to significantly improve the well-being of thousands of survivors' lives.

"We will continue to act toward Germany's recognition of the eligibility of thousands of additional survivors who have yet to be recognized, whether they are from Romania or other countries.

She said, "The Israeli government has an obligation and responsibility toward Holocaust survivors, their welfare, and the justice they deserve. As social equality minister and the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, I am proud to have the privilege to lead, together with the Foreign Ministry and the Claims Conference [the Conference on Material Claims against Germany], the diplomatic efforts on this important subject. And I am hopeful and confident that we will reach further achievements."

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