Israeli diplomat in disciplinary dock for quoting Nazi war criminal
Envoy to Switzerland Yigal Caspi's use of Goering quote on population control seen as implicit criticism of his own government
Israel’s ambassador to Switzerland faces disciplinary proceedings for sharing a Facebook post that used a quote by Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering, apparently to criticize the Israeli government for using fear tactics to control the population.
Yigal Caspi, who narrowly escaped being fired earlier this year for retweeting messages critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ministers in his cabinet, quickly erased the post and apologized, but was nevertheless ordered by the Foreign Ministry to return to Jerusalem, the Ynet news site reported Tuesday.
Goering — the founder of the Nazi secret police, the Gestapo — was the person who ordered Nazi Security Police chief Reinhard Heydrich to organize and coordinate a “total solution” to the “Jewish question.”
He was the highest ranking Nazi in the dock at the Nuremberg Trials, staged by the Allies after World War ll, where he avoided the death sentence by committing suicide with a cyanide pill.
He told the trial: “The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”
Caspi used his private Facebook page to share someone else’s post that featured a Hebrew translation of this quote. The initiator of the post had added the words “We’re on the right path…”
In February, Caspi retweeted criticisms of then-foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman and of Netanyahu’s address in the US Congress. Lieberman ordered a hearing which ended in a reprimand, although it could have lead to dismissal.
Civil service regulations forbid public servants from taking a political stance, in particular those working for the Foreign Ministry.