PM decries ‘resurgent’ anti-Semitism, from Toulouse to Tehran
Netanyahu pans Iran for criticizing Israel’s aid team to Nepal, not sending its own; says anti-Jewish hatred won’t be defeated, must be fought
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced a resurgence in anti-Semitism both in the Middle East and in the West, in a speech on Tuesday before a forum about the phenomenon.
“Today there is no doubt that we are living in an age of resurgent anti-Semitism,” Netanyahu said at the opening of the fifth Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism.
“Jews everywhere are once again being slandered and vilified,” he said.
“This is taking place in the intolerant parts of the Middle East but it’s also taking place in what otherwise would be expected to be the tolerant parts of the West.
“It’s taking place in Beirut, in Damascus, in Tehran. But it’s also taking place, violently so, in Toulouse, in Paris, in Brussels,” said the prime minister.
In his address, Netanyahu referenced the recent “magnificent” Israeli rescue efforts in Nepal, and the criticism it spurred from Iran and Venezuela.
“Yet yesterday state television in both Iran and Venezuela accused our humanitarian team of trafficking in babies. Now, did any of you see an Iranian rescue team in Nepal?” Netanyahu asked.
According to Iranian news agency IRNA, the Islamic Republic sent financial assistance to Nepal, but not humanitarian assistance.
With that, the prime minister conceded that while anti-Semitism may never be stamped out, the West must continue to combat it nonetheless.
“I don’t know if we’ll be able to eradicate the scourge of anti-Semitism. I know we have to fight it. We have learned that if you don’t fight it, if unstopped, these fires of anti-Semitism eventually spread and they consume everyone,” Netanyahu said.
Other speakers at the forum included German Justice Minister Heiko Maas and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
