Netanyahu: ‘The Jewish People Will Defend Itself by Itself’

Citing the lessons of the Holocaust, Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed to defend the State of Israel in any way necessary.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated Tuesday that “the Jewish people will defend itself by itself against any threat. That’s what the Jewish state is all about,” reiterating that the agreement taking formation between the P5+1 powers and Iran regarding Iran’s nuclear aspirations is “unacceptable to Israel.”

Addressing ambassadors and diplomats at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem at a ceremony marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Netanyahu declared: “My responsibility as Prime Minister of Israel is to ensure that the State of Israel will never again be threatened with destruction. My responsibility is to see to it that there will not be a reason to build additional memorial sites such as Yad Vashem.”

“The pending agreement with Iran is an agreement that endangers the State of Israel. It leaves Iran with capabilities that will allow it to arm itself with nuclear weapons, one bomb at first and afterwards many atomic bombs. We cannot live with such an agreement; therefore, we oppose it,” Netanyahu said.

“Israel will reject any agreement that leaves Iran as a nuclear threshold state. Regrettably, our understanding is that the offer made by the P5+1 does exactly that. The capabilities of Iran to produce enriched uranium for atomic bombs are left intact. Such an agreement is sure to spark a nuclear arms race in the region that would turn the Middle East into a nuclear tinderbox. And such an agreement is simply unacceptable to Israel. We will oppose it and we will oppose it vigorously,” Netanyahu vowed.

Netanyahu further stressed the importance of Holocaust remembrance and education. “We live in an age of resurgent and violent anti-Semitism, and commemorations like this ceremony remind us where humanity’s oldest and most enduring hatred can lead. Many thought that after the horrors of the Holocaust, anti-Semitism would finally contract and disappear. That has not happened,” adding the Jew hatred “has now returned in full force.”

ICC Motivated by Anti-Semitism

The ICC at the Hague. (Photo: shutterstock)

In relation to anti-Semitism, Netanyahu said that the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to launch a probe on alleged Israel war crimes in Gaza is motivated by anti-Semitism. “Hamas fires thousands of rockets at our civilians, deliberately targeting our people while hiding behind Palestinian civilians it uses as human shields. And who does the ICC announce it will examine? Israel. No rational examination of the facts could justify this assault on Israel, the Middle East’s only democracy, the most beleaguered democracy on earth. This obsession with the Jewish people and their state has a name. It’s called anti-Semitism.”

Unlike the Holocaust era, Israel is a powerful sovereign state, “Today we can speak out against the hateful voices of those seeking our destruction. Today we can protect ourselves and defend our freedom.”

The ayatollahs in Iran deny the Holocaust while planning another genocide against Israel, Netanyahu pointed out, stating: “Let me be clear. The Jewish people will defend itself by itself against any threat.”

The Prime Minister concluded by stating that “on this day of Holocaust remembrance, I pledge to you what we could neither say nor do 70 years ago. Israel will always do what needs to be done to ensure the security of the Jewish people and the one and only Jewish state. That is the significance of this day.”

By: Atara Beck, World Israel News

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