World
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech during the Fifth World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem, January 23, 2020. Photo: Abir Sultan / AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Israeli and US leaders branded Iran the “leading state purveyor of anti-Semitism” at a Jerusalem gathering on Thursday to commemorate 75 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp during the closing months of World War Two.
While several world leaders, dignitaries, and Holocaust survivors used the memorial event to reflect on the Red Army liberation of the camp in 1945, others chose to highlight present day regional tensions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu branded Tehran the “most anti-Semitic regime on the planet” in an address at the 5th World Holocaust Forum at Yad Vashem, a centre dedicated to the remembrance of the Holocaust.
“We have yet to see a unified and resolute stance against the most anti-Semitic regime on the planet – a regime that openly seeks to develop nuclear weapons and annihilate the one and only Jewish state,” said the Israeli PM.
Delivering his closing remarks to an audience including French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Netanyahu called for global action against Israel’s biggest regional foe.
“I call on all governments to join the vital effort of confronting Tehran,” he said.
Netanyahu, who has enjoyed closer ties with the US under the current administration, also thanked US President Donald Trump for “confronting” Iran weeks after US airstrikes against Iranian interests in Iraq threatened to spiral into all-out war.
“Israel salutes President Trump and Vice President Pence for confronting the tyrants of Tehran that subjugate their own people and threaten the peace and security of the entire world.”
Pence later took to the podium and joined his Israeli counterpart in condemning Iran, which he labeled the “leading state purveyor of anti-Semitism.”
“The one government in the world that denies the Holocaust as a matter of state policy, and threatens to wipe Israel off of the map. The world must stand strong against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Israel has conducted several strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) Quds Force personnel in Syria, and often clashes with Tehran-backed Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon.
Tehran has frequently accused Israel and the US of stoking domestic and regional unrest, with the ongoing Iraq protests described as a “product of Zionism” by an Iranian official in October.
US and Israeli flags often feature in public demonstrations in the Islamic Republic. However, public anger was recently turned on the Iranian government after the IRGC mistakenly shot down a civilian airliner on January 8, killing all 176 on board.
Mourning Iranians took to the streets and several videos surfaced online of protesters deliberately avoiding stepping on US and Israeli flags painted on the pavement, arguing their enemies were in power at home, not abroad.
While several world leaders, dignitaries, and Holocaust survivors used the memorial event to reflect on the Red Army liberation of the camp in 1945, others chose to highlight present day regional tensions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu branded Tehran the “most anti-Semitic regime on the planet” in an address at the 5th World Holocaust Forum at Yad Vashem, a centre dedicated to the remembrance of the Holocaust.
“We have yet to see a unified and resolute stance against the most anti-Semitic regime on the planet – a regime that openly seeks to develop nuclear weapons and annihilate the one and only Jewish state,” said the Israeli PM.
Delivering his closing remarks to an audience including French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Netanyahu called for global action against Israel’s biggest regional foe.
“I call on all governments to join the vital effort of confronting Tehran,” he said.
Netanyahu, who has enjoyed closer ties with the US under the current administration, also thanked US President Donald Trump for “confronting” Iran weeks after US airstrikes against Iranian interests in Iraq threatened to spiral into all-out war.
“Israel salutes President Trump and Vice President Pence for confronting the tyrants of Tehran that subjugate their own people and threaten the peace and security of the entire world.”
Pence later took to the podium and joined his Israeli counterpart in condemning Iran, which he labeled the “leading state purveyor of anti-Semitism.”
“The one government in the world that denies the Holocaust as a matter of state policy, and threatens to wipe Israel off of the map. The world must stand strong against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Israel has conducted several strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) Quds Force personnel in Syria, and often clashes with Tehran-backed Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon.
Tehran has frequently accused Israel and the US of stoking domestic and regional unrest, with the ongoing Iraq protests described as a “product of Zionism” by an Iranian official in October.
US and Israeli flags often feature in public demonstrations in the Islamic Republic. However, public anger was recently turned on the Iranian government after the IRGC mistakenly shot down a civilian airliner on January 8, killing all 176 on board.
Mourning Iranians took to the streets and several videos surfaced online of protesters deliberately avoiding stepping on US and Israeli flags painted on the pavement, arguing their enemies were in power at home, not abroad.
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