Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Netanyahu Dismisses Abbas Shoah Comments, Cites Alliance With Hamas Which ‘Attempts to Create an Additional Holocaust’
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Israeli PM Netanyahu at his weekly cabinet meeting. Photo: Screenshot.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ recent sympathetic statements about the Holocaust citing the PA’s recent moves to unite with terror group Hamas, which is committed to Israel’s destruction.
“Hamas denies the Holocaust even as it attempts to create an additional Holocaust by destroying the State of Israel. It is with this Hamas that Abu Mazen chose to form an alliance last week,” Netanyahu told ministers at his government’s weekly cabinet meeting. “Instead of issuing statements designed to placate global public opinion, Abu Mazen needs to choose between the alliance with Hamas, a terrorist organization that calls for the destruction of Israel and denies the Holocaust, and a true peace with Israel.”
The prime minister’s comments came shortly after Palestinian Arab news agencies reported that Abbas called the Holocaust “the most heinous crime to have occurred against humanity in the modern era” during a meeting with a U.S. rabbi. Additionally, he expressed his “sympathy with the families of the victims and many other innocent people who were killed by the Nazis.” He also drew a parallel between Jewish suffering at the hands of the Nazis and the current plight of Palestinian Arabs.
The prime minister also tied the PA to Iran through its new alliance with Hamas, telling ministers on Sunday that Iran “tops the list” of Israel’s enemies and has “declared its intention to destroy” the Jewish state. He added that aside from its efforts to arm itself with nuclear weapons, the Islamic Republic also arms, finances and trains Hamas militants on Israel’s borders.
Abbas’ remarks were times to coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day, observed by Israel on Sunday, where the Jewish state will honor the memory of the Shoah’s six million victims.
Speaking about Jews then and now, Netanyahu said: “The main difference between the helplessness of the Jews during the Holocaust and the situation of the Jews today is that today we have a strong, sovereign state with a strong military that can defend us against those who seek our lives.”
