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Israel warns against Iranian threat as it remembers Holocaust

Israel Materials 19 April 2012 00:53 (UTC +04:00)
The trauma of the Holocaust obligates Israel not to bury its head in the sand when dealing with Iran's nuclear programme, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday.
Israel warns against Iranian threat as it remembers Holocaust

The trauma of the Holocaust obligates Israel not to bury its head in the sand when dealing with Iran's nuclear programme, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday, DPA reported.

He spoke at a state ceremony in Jerusalem, ushering in Israel's annual Holocaust Remembrance Day, which began after sunset Wednesday and ends after sunset Thursday.

Netanyahu devoted almost his entire speech to the Iranian nuclear issue and warned against repeating the mistake of failing to recognize imminent danger.

"We must not only remember the Holocaust, but also learn its lessons, and most importantly, implement those lessons," he said.

"There are those who prefer we don't talk about a nuclear Iran as an existential threat. They say that only spreads fear," he said at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial centre.

"Do they really think that this nation, which overcame every danger, has not enough power to overcome also this new danger?

"As the prime minister of Israel I will never shy away from telling the truth," he continued.

"The truth is that a nuclear Iran is an existential threat to Israel. The truth is that a nuclear Iran is also an existential threat to other states in the region and that it is an existential threat to world peace.

"And the truth is that it is an obligation to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons."

"We will never (again) bury our heads in the sand," he ended.

Israel has traditionally marked Holocaust Remembrance Day on the 27th day of the Jewish month of Nissan - one week before Israeli Independence Day - to symbolize the birth of the Jewish state from the ashes of the Holocaust.

Two thirds of Europe's 9 million Jews perished at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators during World War II.

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