Jewish Labor Committee Dismayed
by PM Netanyahu's Statement on the Holocaust
October 22, 2015 -- New York, NY: Addressing the World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a statement that is factually inaccurate and inflammatory precisely at a time when tensions are already extreme. Netanyahu claimed that "Hitler didn't want to exterminate the Jews," but was persuaded to do so in a meeting he had with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, in November 1941.
While it is true that the Grand Mufti was a notorious anti-Semite who helped instigate Arab violence against Jews and who collaborated with the Nazis, including recruiting Balkan Muslims to the SS and helping lead the1941 pro-Axis rebellion in Iraq, his meeting with Hitler took place after the mass murder of Jews had already begun and some one million had already died.
Today, when Palestinians are attacking Israelis on a daily basis, a statement blaming Palestinians for the Holocaust will only further inflame tensions. It is inaccurate and the opposite of what is needed, not only to quell the current violence, but also because it hinders negotiations for a two-state peace which is the long-term solution.