by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva drew the ire of Israeli authorities on Sunday after comparing Israel’s actions in the war against Hamas to the Holocaust, in which the Nazis killed six million Jews in a raid systematic in Europe during World War II.
“What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people has no parallel in other historical moments,” said Mr. Lula told reporters during the 37th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. But, he later added, “it existed when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”
In his opening speech at Saturday’s summit, he said it was necessary to condemn both Hamas’ attacks on Israeli civilians and “Israel’s disproportionate response.” Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 28,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli invasion of Gaza following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which killed more than 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials.
Lula’s statement outraged Israeli officials. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz stated in a statement on social media in Hebrew that the comments were “shameful and atrocious.” He said Brazil’s ambassador will be called to his office on Monday to receive a “reprimand,” adding that “no one will harm Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel echoed those sentiments in his own social media post. Netanyahu accused Brazil’s president of “trivializing the Holocaust and trying to harm the Jewish people and Israel’s right to defend itself” and said that “comparing Israel to the Nazi Holocaust and Hitler is crossing a red line.”
Netanyahu added in a separate statement that Lula “has dishonored the memory of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis and demonized the Jewish state as the most virulent anti-Semite.”
Dani Dayan, president of Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, also condemned Lula’s comments, saying in a statement that it was “extremely disappointing that the Brazilian leader, a country of significant stature, resorted to distorting the Holocaust and propagating anti-Semitic sentiments in such a blatant manner.”
Hamas, in a statement on social media, welcomed the Brazilian president’s comments and expressed gratitude for the comparison between the Holocaust and the current fighting in Gaza.
Brazil’s president initially condemned the Hamas-led attack on October 7, but has since criticized Israel’s response. In November, when he welcomed a flight with about 30 people who managed to leave Gaza through Egypt with the help of the Brazilian government, he condemned the impact of the war on civilians and said: “I have never seen such brutal violence.” and inhumane against innocent people. people.”
