Mayor of affluent central Israeli city uses Holocaust Remembrance Day address to castigate the Netanyahu government and accuse the Israeli military of atrocities in the Gaza Strip.
By World Israel News Staff
The mayor of an affluent city in central Israel sparked controversy by using his Holocaust Remembrance Day speech to criticize the Netanyahu government and drawing comparisons between the IDF’s handling of the current war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to the Nazi Holocaust.
During his address at a municipal ceremony Wednesday evening marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, Hod HaSharon Mayor Amir Kochavi warned Israelis not to ignore “atrocities” being committed “in our name” against other foreign populations.
“We must not remain silent in the face of atrocities committed against members of other nations in the world,” Kochavi said, “even if they are committed in our name.”
“Jewish morality dictates: ‘Never again’ — not just for us, but for all peoples, as a moral and ethical imperative of a just and healthy society.”
Turning to the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, Kochavi lambasted the Netanyahu government over the ongoing captivity.
“Fifty-nine brothers and sisters are still being held captive in Gaza. Their ‘Never again’ is still ongoing, and the lust for revenge, blood, and destruction has not brought back the dead — nor the living.”
“As descendants of Holocaust survivors who, together with other pioneers, established the Jewish state, we must ensure that the memory of the Holocaust — the processes that led to it, the legal and moral justifications given for it, and the silence that accompanied it — all serve as a warning sign to the entire world. Also to us, so that we may remember and beware.”
Kochavi’s comments drew sharp criticism, including from the Opposition in the Knesset.
“On Holocaust Remembrance Day, while 59 hostages are rotting in the hellish inferno of Gaza, the mayor of Hod HaSharon, Amir Kochavi, incites against the IDF and chooses to stand on the side of the terrorists,” said MK Avidgor Liberman.
Liberman, who heads the Yisrael Beytenu party and previously served as Defense Minister, called on Opposition Leader Yair Lapid to condemn Kochavi’s comments, noting that he is a member of Opposition leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party.
“I expect Yair Lapid, with whom Kochavi is affiliated politically, to immediately condemn his statements.”
Kochavi later accused his critics of intentionally misinterpreting his comments.
“The ugly spin being made about my words is meant to distract from the fact that 59 hostages have been abandoned in Hamas captivity for 565 days by the Prime Minister, under whose watch they were abducted,” Kochavi said.
“They must be returned now, in one coordinated move — the dead for burial and the living for rehabilitation. Anything else is a distraction.”
