During a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly criticized Hamas, likening the organization to the Nazis and urging global unity to combat what he views as a grave threat.
Netanyahu’s remarks came after a tragic incident on October 7 when Hamas-led forces crossed the Israel-Gaza border, resulting in the deaths of 1,400 Israeli individuals, including the elderly women, children, as well as men. This event marked the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel’s history.
At the news conference, Netanyahu spoke passionately about the brutality he attributed to Hamas, including rape, murder, beheadings, and the abduction of families. He also described horrifying scenes of murderers entering homes to kill babies and the captivity of grandmothers and Holocaust survivors.
Drawing historical parallels, Netanyahu evoked the memory of Babi Yar, a tragic site in Kyiv, Ukraine, where Nazi death squads executed nearly 34,000 Jews in September 1941. He emphasized that the savagery witnessed in the Gaza conflict was reminiscent of the Holocaust.
Netanyahu went further, asserting that “Hamas are the new Nazis” and comparing the organization to ISIS, sometimes even deeming it worse. He called for international solidarity similar to that seen during the defeat of the Nazis and the fight against ISIS, urging the world to stand with Israel against Hamas. He also pointed out what he described as an “axis of evil” involving Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas, all of whom, in his view, aimed to eliminate the state of Israel.
He concluded by emphasizing Hamas’s goal to kill as many Jews as possible and stated that the only difference was the capacity to do so. He called for a united global effort against this perceived threat.
The international response to the conflict has included visits from world leaders such as Chancellor Scholz, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and an upcoming visit by President Biden to show support for Israel.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also reached out to Netanyahu, expressing concerns about a humanitarian disaster and discussing the need for an early cease-fire and humanitarian truce in the region. There is also shared concern about the potential for the conflict to escalate into a regional war.
