Mayor sparks uproar with Holocaust day speech condemning ‘lust for revenge’ in Gaza
Hod Hasharon Mayor Amir Kochavi says Israelis must not be silent, even against atrocities ‘carried out in our name,’ amid call for hostages’ return
Hod Hasharon Mayor Ami Kochavi drew condemnation Wednesday evening when, at a ceremony marking the start of Holocaust Remembrance Day, he appeared to suggest that Israel was on the road to permitting atrocities, citing a “lust for revenge” as hostages are held in Gaza.
“Jewish morality dictates, ‘Never again’ — not just to us, but to all peoples, as an ethical and moral command on a just and healthy society,” Kochavi said.
“We must not be silent in the face of atrocities carried out against people of other nations in the world — even if they are carried out in our name,” he continued.
“59 of our brothers and sisters are still held hostage in Gaza. Their ‘never again’ is still ongoing,” he continued, referring to the 24 living and 35 dead captives still held by terror groups in the Strip. And the lust for revenge, for blood and destruction won’t bring us back the dead, or the living,” he said.
“As the descendants of survivors of the Holocaust, who together with other pioneers founded the State of the Jews — it is incumbent on us to ensure that the memory of the Holocaust, the steps that led to it, the legal and ethical justifications that were given to it, and the silence that accompanied it — all of them will be made into warning signs to the entire world, and also to us, to remember and to warn,” he said.
The comments came midway through a six-minute speech. During the address, Kochavi also quoted testimony from a Holocaust survivor who lost grandchildren during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack. The mayor additionally referred to Israel as “at war” both externally and internally, and repeatedly emphasized the plight of the hostages.
Israel has been accused of committing genocide in Gaza, charges it strenuously rejects.
The controversial remarks circulated online and in Hebrew media and drew sharp condemnation from lawmakers and government ministers.
Culture Minister Miki Zohar wrote on X Thursday: “The embarrassing words of the mayor of Hod Hasharon are a spit in the face of Holocaust survivors — those who immigrated to the Land of Israel, established a state and survived the terrible massacre committed by ‘other peoples.’
“I have no doubt that the vast majority of Hod Hasharon residents repudiate these outrageous statements,” Zohar added.
Energy Minister Eli Cohen, also on X, accused Kochavi of choosing to “identify with our enemies, and damage the name of our heroic soldiers.
“The same hatred of Jews that led to the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis and their helpers, still flows in the blood of our enemies, whom the soldiers of the IDF are fighting at this very moment,” Cohen wrote.
Avigdor Liberman, chairman of the hawkish opposition party Yisrael Beytenu, tweeted: “On Holocaust Remembrance Day, while 59 hostages languish in the hell of Gaza, the mayor of Hod Hasharon, Amir Kochavi, incites against the IDF and actually sides with the terrorists.”
Liberman called on Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, “whose party Kochavi is affiliated with, to condemn his words immediately.”
In his post on X amid the controversy Thursday, Kochavi decried the “ugly spin” being shared by his critics, stating that the condemnations “are intended to make people forget that there are 59 hostages who have been held captive by Hamas for 565 days and the prime minister on whose watch they were kidnapped.”
“They must be returned now, in one fell swoop. The dead for burial and the living for rehabilitation. Anything else is a distraction,” he wrote.
The Times of Israel Community.