Speaking on Holocaust Remembrance Day at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem memorial, he lamented that while the Nazis killed six million Jews during World War II, his people were “completely defenseless against those who planned our destruction.”
He said that while the Israeli flag was at half-mast and massacre survivors were ready to light torches, “no country came to our aid.”
Today we face the enemy again: Netanyahu
“Today, we again face enemies bent on our destruction,” Netanyahu told the crowd gathered for the ceremony.
A yellow chair representing hostages was left empty by Hamas in Gaza.
“I tell world leaders that no pressure, no decision from any international forum, will stop Israel from defending itself,” he said.
Along with this, he regretted the worldwide criticism against Israel regarding the war in Gaza after the attack by Hamas on October 7. He condemned “this terrible volcano of anti-Semitism” rising around the world.
A strong reaction to the demonstrations taking place in universities
Netanyahu compared the protests seen at US universities and around the world to discrimination against Jews at German universities during World War II. “How justice and history have been perverted,” he said.
He said the criticism “is not because of what we have done, but because we exist… because we are Jews.”
More than 35 thousand people were killed in the war
Gaza’s bloodiest war began after Hamas attacked Israel, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures. More than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the attack. Hamas took about 250 hostages during the attack. Israel estimates that 128 people are still being held captive in Gaza, 35 of whom have been killed, according to the military.
At least 34,683 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Gaza in the Israeli counterattack, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
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