Netanyahu at Holocaust ceremony: Iran deal shows lesson was not learned
Speaking at annual Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at
Yad Vashem, prime minister compares Iran to the Nazis and warns
that appeasement could lead to worse wars.
Roi Yanovsky / y-net news.com
The deal being discussed between Iran
and world powers shows that the historical lesson of the Holocaust
has not been internalized, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at
Wednesday's state ceremony held at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in
Jerusalem to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day.
"The day of victory over the Nazis was not only a day of
relief and joy," said Netanyahu. "It was a day mixed with
terrible sorrow for our people, and it was also a day of
soul-searching for leaders of all peoples."
The Israeli prime minister used the
opportunity to remind those watching of the role of democracies in
stopping tyrannical regimes. "Leaders of the enlightened
countries understood that it was a window of opportunity to establish
a new world order based on protecting freedom, eradicating evil, and
opposing tyranny. In a loud and clear voice, they pronounced the
central lesson of the Second World War for democracies – we must
not turn a blind eye to the expansionist intentions of tyrannical
regimes. Appeasement of such regimes increases their propensity for
aggression, and if this aggression is not curbed in time, humanity
could endure much more difficult wars."
"Many in the world declare that the lessons learned are also
valid today. They declare 'never again'. But as long as these words
are not heeded in practice, they are meaningless," said the
prime minister. "I wish I could stand here and tell you the
world truly learned from this incomprehensible tragedy. Just as the
Nazis hoped to crush a civilization, so Iran strives to take over the
region and from there spread onwards, with the stated intention of
destroying the Jewish state.
