From the Liveblog of
Thursday, October 15, 2026
Knesset speaker rejects genocide charge in address to European leaders, gets applause
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana rejects accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza while addressing European parliamentary leaders in Rome, accusing world leaders of spreading falsehoods for political gain.
“Everyone in this room knows the truth – Israel is not committing genocide. Enough with this despicable lie,” Ohana, a Likud lawmaker, declares at the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament, a two-day summit bringing together parliamentary leaders from the Council of Europe’s 46 member states and beyond to discuss threats to democracy and the future of the rules-based international order.
The Council of Europe is a human rights and democracy organization separate from the 27-member European Union. Israel is not a member, but the Knesset holds observer status with its Parliamentary Assembly.
Ohana holds up a copy of And Every Single One Was Someone, a 1,250-page book containing the word “Jew” printed six million times to commemorate the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. “This is what real genocide looks like,” he says.
“Many world leaders proclaim the importance of their values, yet when the moment of truth arrives, only a few are willing to defend them,” he says, accusing some leaders of knowingly endorsing “false propaganda” to secure “fleeting electoral applause in their simmering streets.”
Ohana goes on to describe the war in Gaza, which was sparked by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack, as “a global clash of civilizations, a battle between the forces of darkness, radicalism and extremism, and those of freedom, liberty and democracy.”
The war entered a ceasefire a year ago, which halted major fighting, though Israel has continued striking Hamas operatives.
“Some of the member-states represented here have a deeply dark place in the history books. I urge you this time to stand on the right side of history, fighting for freedom with us,” he says.
His remarks are met with applause and Petra Bayr, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, thanks him in Hebrew.
The Times of Israel Community.