From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Netanyahu says Hamas ‘exactly’ like the Nazis, vows Israel ‘will never surrender’
Zev Stub is the Times of Israel's Diaspora Affairs correspondent.
Speaking at the official state Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at Yad Vashem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu likens the Hamas terror group to the Nazis.
“Indeed, they are exactly like the Nazis, just like Hitler,” Netanyahu says. “They wish to kill and destroy all of the Jews, and they openly declare their intention to destroy the state of the Jews. They say so out loud, but it’s not going to happen. We are determined to annihilate the monsters of Hamas, these monsters who committed the worst massacre that we’ve experienced since the Holocaust.”
Netanyahu stresses the importance of fighting evil, citing the operation in Gaza’s Rafah last spring as an example.
“Exactly a year ago, I stood in this very same place, and I spoke adamantly against those elements in the international community who sought to tie our hands. They warned us that if we enter Rafah, they will impose an arms embargo on Israel,” he says. “I said that, as the prime minister of the State of Israel, no one will prevent us from defending ourselves. No one will tie our hands. If we need to stand alone, we shall stand alone.”
In fighting back since Hamas’s invasion and mass-murder, says Netanyahu, “We have changed the face of the Middle East. Anyone who feared that, after the slaughter of October 7, we would face another Holocaust, saw how we turned the tables. On this Holocaust Remembrance Day, I promise: The military pressure on Hamas will continue. We will destroy all of its capabilities. We will return all our hostages. We will defeat Hamas. And we will prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons.”
He describes the regime in Iran as “an existential threat — not only to our future, but to the destiny of all humanity,” and vows that Israel will ensure Iran does not attain nuclear weapons.
“If Israel, heaven forbid, were to fail in this campaign, the Western states would be next in line…. But Israel will not lose,” he says. “Israel will not capitulate.”
Netanyahu contrasts the vulnerable state of Jews during the Holocaust with Israel’s current military strength. “During the Holocaust, we were like dust carried away by the wind,” he says. “Today, we have a powerful force that protects us, respected by the whole world. We have a country, we have an army, we have security forces.”
“We will never surrender,” Netanyahu says. “Victory demands resilience. Thanks to the resilience and unity of all of the citizens of Israel, we have already achieved great achievements, and we will achieve further achievements until victory comes.”
The Times of Israel Community.