For Netanyahu, Holocaust Day Is All About Iran

Barak: P5+1 Talks Don't Exempt Iran From Attack

Holocaust Remembrance Day has come and, as usual, Nazi Germany is very much taking a back seat for Israel’s political leadership, who are instead using the day as an opportunity to give speeches about Iran.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear in his comments that Holocaust Day might as well be Iran Day this year, insisting that the nation poses an “existential threat” to the Jewish people and that the world is obliged to “stop Iran.”

Netanyahu loudly rejected critics who said it was tacky to try to exploit the deaths of innocent civilians last century to start a war today, insisting that making his speech all about Iran was “the best way to honor” those who were killed.

Netanyahu insisted that making his Holocaust Day speech about some third country Israel might like to attack was the “duty” of his office, but he was hardly alone, as President Shimon Peres likewise made repeated calls to “stand up” to Iran in the name of the Holocaust.

In separate comments Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak touched on the ongoing nuclear talks between the P5+1 and Iran, saying that the fact that the talks were ongoing doesn’t exempt Iran from attack and that Israel would never promise not to attack Iran on any given day.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.