Photo Courtesy of UN-Photo/Marco Castro
Almost seven decades after the end of World War II, is another Holocaust still a threat? Benjamin Netanyahu believes so. The Israeli Prime Minister warned again Sunday that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons for “what they deem to be another Holocaust—the destruction of the state of the Jews.”
In comments to his cabinet on International Holocaust Memorial Day, Netanyahu noted that Iran remains “the leader of Holocaust-denial” even while working towards wiping out Israel. “They are not halting their relentless and systematic race to achieve a nuclear weapons capability in order to realize this intention,” said Netanyahu in comments released by the Israeli government. “We do not make light of these threats and we will prevent them. This is our primary mission as a government and as a people.”
Netanyahu’s comments come amidst efforts to form a new Israeli government coalition following last week’s national elections. The Netanyahu-led Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu joint party again won the most seats, and the current Israeli leader is expected to be given the opportunity to head the next government.
Netanyahu noted that Iran, in addition to the chemical weapons threat posed by the implosion of Syria to Israel’s north, are just some of the many dangers facing Israel today. He said that the root of Holocaust Memorial Day is “not what happened, but how we can prevent it from happening again and this depends on the ability and the determination of the state of the Jews to defend itself against those who would destroy it.”
He noted that that responsibility is a key concern in setting up the next government. “The Middle East is not waiting on the results of the elections and it will not stop during the formation of the government… I would like to form the broadest and most stable government as possible in order—first of all—to meet the significant security threats that face the State of Israel, and I am convinced of our ability to deal with these threats.”
As part of International Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel, a presentation was given to the Israeli cabinet meeting demonstrating that anti-Semitism, including acts of violence, remains a genuine concern.
Said Netanyahu, “Anti-Semitism has not disappeared and—to our regret—neither has the desire to destroy a considerable part of the Jewish People and the State of Israel… what has not changed is the desire to annihilate the Jews. What has changed is the ability of the Jews to defend themselves.
“…Nobody will defend the Jews if they are not ready to defend themselves; this is another lesson of the Holocaust. It is impossible to rely on separate and independent action to defend the Jews if the Jews will not defend themselves.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, January 27, 2013)