Gaza: Lula compares Israel to the Nazis, Netanyahu criticizes “trivialization” of the Shoah
This Sunday, February 18, the Brazilian president accused Israel of “
genocide
” and compared the Israeli offensive to the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis. These virulent remarks provoked a strong reaction from the Israeli Prime Minister, who denounced “
shameful and serious
” words, while summoning the Brazilian ambassador to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva delivers a national declaration during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 1, 2023. (Illustrative image) REUTERS - THAIER AL-SUDANI
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Hot exchange between Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Benjamin Netanyahu. The Brazilian president accused
Israel this Sunday, February 18, of committing “
genocide
»
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, comparing the Israeli offensive to the extermination of the Jews by the Nazis. The Israeli Prime Minister responded by denouncing “
shameful and serious
” remarks
and by summoning the Brazilian ambassador to Israel on Monday, while his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused Brazil of “
supporting
» Hamas.
“
What is happening in the Gaza Strip is not a war, it is a genocide
,” Lula told reporters from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he is attending an African Union summit. “
This is not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It is a war between a highly prepared army and women and children. (...) What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people has not happened at any other time in history. In fact, this has already happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews
», insisted the Brazilian leader, veteran of the left.
Read alsoGaza: Netanyahu determined to enter Rafah, hope of a truce fades
A comparison that “
crosses the red line
”
These statements are among the most virulent ever made on the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas by Lula, a prominent voice from the South whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the G20. And they were quick to get Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to react. “
The Brazilian president's comments are shameful and serious
,
” he wrote on
Comparing Israel to the Nazi Holocaust and Hitler is crossing the red line,
” he added.
הדברים של נשיא ברזיל מבישים וחמורים. לפגוע בעם היהודי ובזכותה של ישראל להגן עצמה.
ההשוואה בין ישראל לשואת הנאצים ולהיטלר היא חציית קו אדום. הגנתה והבטחת עתידה עד לניצחון המוחלט והיא עושה זאת תוך שמירה על הדין הבינלאומי.
החלטתי עם…
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) February 18, 2024
The Israeli Prime Minister also affirmed that he was summoning "
immediately
» the Brazilian ambassador to Israel to “
serge him sharply
”. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz, specified on the same social network that he would be convened on Monday February 19. “
Brazil has been on the side of Hamas for years. President Lula supports a genocidal terrorist organization (...) and in doing so brings shame on his people and violates the values of the free world
», Reacted on X the Israeli Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant. These comments also provoked a very strong reaction from the director of the Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, Dani Dayan. “
Comparing a country fighting a murderous terrorist organization to the actions of the Nazis during the Holocaust deserves condemnation
», he writes.
For its part, Hamas “
welcomed
» in a press release of Lula's statements, which according to him are "
an exact description of what (his) people are going through
» in Gaza and reveal “
the enormity of the crime
” committed by Israel “
with the open support of the Biden administration
".
BREAKING: HAMAS OFFICIAL STATEMENT
“We in the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) appreciate the statement made by Brazilian President Lula da Silva, who described what our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip are subjected to as a Holocaust, and that the actions of the zionists … pic.twitter.com/2A8jgdir7A
— Sulaiman Ahmed (@ShaykhSulaiman) February 18, 2024
Also read: Israel, Gaza, four months of war
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