On Auschwitz Anniversary, Israeli President Urges UN to Fight 'Volcano of Antisemitism'

JERUSALEM, Israel – This year's International Holocaust Remembrance Day marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the worst Nazi death camp: Auschwitz- Birkenau in Poland. At the United Nations, Israeli President Isaac Herzog challenged the international community to stand on the principles on which the U.N. was founded and not to compromise.

For decades, Israel rejected any comparison of current events to the Holocaust. That changed after the October 7th, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the World War II Holocaust.

Some speakers at the two-hour U.N. ceremony in Poland mentioned October 7th, the ceasefire deal, and the need to free the hostages.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated, "And we will do our utmost to ensure it leads to the release of all hostages. Since the beginning, we have asked for the unconditional and immediate release of all hostages and to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza."

Herzog noted that while the Holocaust was the single most catastrophic disaster in history, the U.N. emerged as a voice of repair, healing, and building, including establishing the State of Israel.

He cautioned, "However, this moral and ethical lighthouse has been eroded time and time again."

Herzog believes nations are blurring the distinction between good and evil, distorting the difference between victim and monster, and allowing anti-Semitic genocidal doctrines to flourish.

"How is it possible that the same institutions established in the wake of the greatest genocide in history – the Holocaust – are manipulating the definition of genocide for the sole purpose of attacking Israel and the Jewish people?" he asked. "Doing so by embracing the despicable phenomenon of Holocaust inversion."

Based on evidence, Herzog claimed the October 7th terrorists were inspired by Hitler and the Nazis to destroy Israel.

"But the issue, ladies and gentlemen, is much deeper and reaches far beyond the October 7th massacre. We have all witnessed a huge volcano of antisemitism erupt following the massacre," he declared.

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In an earlier interview with CNN, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) expressed the same sentiments. 

"I'm worried that we're losing 80 years on that we're rewriting history here," Graham observed. "The Holocaust was one of the darkest moments in the history of mankind. There are 15 million Jews on the planet because every generation seems to want to go after the Jewish people so they can't grow and survive."

Graham also indicated there is no future for Hamas.

"Hamas needs to go. All these guys with masks on and guns – they're scum – and I hope they're dead men walking," he said. "Hamas is the problem for the world, not just the Palestinians."

Meanwhile, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has until Thursday to vacate its premises in eastern Jerusalem. The Israeli government ordered the eviction because of the participation of UNRWA workers in the October 7th massacre and other staffers' membership in Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups.

In Gaza, Islamic Jihad published a video of hostage Arbel Yehud, whom they promised to release on Thursday. Hamas is also due to release Israel Defense Forces soldier Agam Berger and another hostage the same day.

Hamas has confirmed that of the 33 hostages who have been released or are due to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire deal, 25 are alive and eight are not.