Netanyahu denounces EU criticism of settlements as ‘anomaly’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denounced the European Union’s repeated criticism of the regime’s settlement activities as an “anomaly,” calling on the EU to reassess ties with Tel Aviv.

"There is an anomaly, we are often criticized by Western Europe, often more than any other place in the world," the premier said in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, on Wednesday, the second day of his three-day tour of the European country.

"It's time to have a re-assessment in Europe about the relationship with Israel," he added.

The EU have on many occasions blasted Tel Aviv for pushing ahead with its settlement expansion policies in the occupied Palestinian lands despite growing international calls to halt the projects altogether.

Federica Mogherini, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said last month that the regime’s decision to build more than 3,000 new settlement units in the West Bank “was illegal under international law.”

The move, according to her, could “further complicate the prospects for a viable two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The expansion also amounts to a stark violation of the United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 2334, which urges Israel to “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem” al-Quds, where some 600,000 Israelis live in more than 230 settlements built since the occupation began in 1967.

Netanyahu hails Hungary’s fight against ‘anti-Zionism’

Earlier on Wednesday, Netanyahu met with leaders of the so-called Visegrad Four nations, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic, whose anti-immigration policies have put them at odds with the EU.

The Israeli prime minister hailed the Visegrad Four for taking sides with Israel “on several occasion” against the EU.

He also praised Hungary as the birthplace of Zionism founder Theodor Herzl and said the country was "at the forefront" of countries fighting anti-Zionism.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who faces protests at home for praising a Nazi-allied wartime leader, underscored his country’s unconditional support for the Tel Aviv regime, noting that by criticizing Israel the EU was actually “punishing itself.”

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