Netanyahu: The lesson of the Holocaust is to fight fanatical regimes

Netanyahu: “We are relentlessly dismantling the forces of evil. We will never forget the atrocities our enemies have committed against us.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized showing force and eliminating fanatical elements as an essential lesson of the Holocaust during his speech at the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem on Wednesday, the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“We are relentlessly dismantling the forces of evil,” Netanyahu said. “We will never forget the atrocities our enemies have committed against us.”

He then recounted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz viewing footage of Hamas’s atrocities on October 7 and remarking, “They are exactly like the Nazis.”

Netanyahu continued, “We are resolute in our mission to eliminate the brutal terrorists of Hamas, who carried out the most horrific massacre since the Holocaust. There will be no Islamic caliphate — not in the south, not in the north, and not in Judea and Samaria.”

He added, “I give you my word: the military pressure on Hamas will not let up. We are committed to bringing every captive home. We will defeat Hamas and stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. We will confront extremist regimes — and we will act in time. That is the core lesson of the Holocaust, and it is the lesson my father taught me, having witnessed the West’s silence in the face of the Nazi threat.”

Netanyahu arrived late to the ceremony at Yad Vashem, reportedly due to security issues arising from a drone accompanying his convoy.

Before Netanyahu’s speech, Israeli President Isaac Herzog took the podium and pleaded for national unity.

“Holocaust survivors plead; the division among us is dreadful. Make unity among the people,” he said.

Herzog also expressed the urgency of freeing the 59 hostages remaining in Gaza.

It’s impossible not to be shaken by the accounts of October 7 — the images, the stories of those who were abducted, many of whom remain in captivity in Gaza. “The blood of our brothers cries out from the ground — we must bring them home. Now,” he declared.