Lula compares Israel to Nazis, Netanyahu criticizes Shoah “trivialization”

Published on: 02/18/2024 – 7:49 pm

3 minutes

A heated exchange between Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Benjamin Netanyahu. The President of Brazil made this allegation on Sunday, February 18 Israel committed ” Genocide » Palestinians in the Gaza Strip compare Israel’s invasion to the extermination of Jews by the Nazis. Israel’s prime minister responded by condemning the comments “ Shameful and serious “And by summoning Brazil’s ambassador to Israel on Monday, when its Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused Brazil of ” Sustained » Hamas.

” What is happening in the Gaza Strip is not war, it is 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 to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip 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, a veteran of the left.

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A comparison which Crosses the red line »

The statements are among the most viral yet made by Lula, a leading voice in the South, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the G20, on the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. And he was quick to respond to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. ” The Brazilian President’s comments are shameful and serious “, he wrote on X. It is about trying to trivialize the Holocaust and undermine the right of the Jewish people and Israel to defend itself. Comparing Israel to the Nazi Holocaust and Hitler is crossing a red line “, he added.

The Prime Minister of Israel also assured that he is calling “ right away » Ambassador of Brazil to Israel Lecture him sharply ” The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz, clarified on the same social network that he will be summoned on Monday, February 19. ” Brazil has sided with Hamas for years. President Lula supports a genocidal terrorist organization (…) and in doing so shames his people and violates the values ​​of the free world. », responded to Yoav Gallant, Israel’s Defense Minister, on X. The comments also provoked a very strong reaction from the director of the Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, Dani Dayan. ” Comparing a country fighting a deadly terrorist organization to the actions of the Nazis during the Holocaust is reprehensible “, he wrote.

For its part, Hamas has “ joy » In a press release of Lula’s statements, which he said “ An accurate description of what (its) people are going through » In Gaza and public ” Enormity of the crime “Committed by Israel” With the open support of the Biden administration “

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