Jerusalem:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday denounced a “volcano of anti-Semitism” and international criticism of Israel's war in Gaza, insisting that no pressure would stop the country from defending itself.
“If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone,” Netanyahu said.
Speaking on Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem, he lamented that when the Nazis murdered six million Jews during World War II, his people were “totally defenseless against those who sought our destruction.”
“No country came to our aid,” he said as the Israeli flag flew at half-mast and Holocaust survivors prepared to light torches.
“Today we once again face enemies bent on our destruction,” Netanyahu told the large crowd gathered for the ceremony.
One yellow chair was empty and represented the hostages still held captive by Hamas in Gaza.
“I say to the leaders of the world: no pressure, no decision from any international forum will prevent Israel from defending itself.”
He deplored the wave of criticism of Israel around the world over the war in Gaza, which arose after Hamas' unprecedented attack on October 7. And he denounced “this terrible volcano of anti-Semitism” that he said was raging around the world.
Netanyahu also compared the protests at universities in the United States and around the world to the discrimination against Jews at German universities during World War II.
“What a perversion of justice and history,” he said.
The criticism, he said, was not “because of the actions we do, but because we exist… because we are Jews.
“You will not chain our hands… Israel will continue to fight human evil… until victory,” he said.
“We will defeat our genocidal enemies. That will never happen again!”
Gaza's bloodiest war ever began after Hamas's attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Hamas also seized about 250 hostages during the attack. Israel estimates that 128 are still held captive in Gaza, including 35 who the army says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory offensive, which vowed to destroy Hamas, has killed at least 34,683 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry of the Hamas-administered territory.
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