It is important to call the attention of the public to the rising anti-Semitism in Hungary, Israel's Ambassador Aliza Bin-Noun told MTI, ahead of a two-day conference on the subject.

The ambassador called the Hungarian government's proposed amendment to the constitution to penalize hate speech an important step. A dividing line must be defined between the freedom of expression and hate speech, she said. Human rights must not be violated in the name of freedom of speech, the ambassador said, and warned that incitement to hate speech could lead to deeds.

Bin-Noun called it a "negative phenomenon" that the paramilitary Hungarian Guard had inducted several hundred new members at a public ceremony in Budapest on Sunday, and said that she did not have good feelings about the program and ideology of that radical nationalist organization.

The conference called Antisemitism in present-day Europe is organized by the Central European University, the embassies of Israel, the US, the Netherlands and Poland, as well as by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The event is part of a long-term program to fight anti-Semitism all over the world, Bin-Noun said.