Controversy Over Comparison of Israel to Nazi Germany

In Israel, memorial ceremonies for Jewish Holocaust victims during the Nazi regime have been taking place since the evening of Wednesday, May 4. However, remarks by two of the country's highest military officials, which have been interpreted as an implicit comparison between Israel's actions and those of the Nazis, have sparked controversy. According to Israeli media, General Yair Golan, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, stated at the opening of the Holocaust memorial ceremonies that he is 'shaken by the emergence of signs similar to events before the Nazis in Europe' and 'the intensification of these signs in recent times' in Israel. This senior Israeli military figure added, 'If there is anything more terrifying than the memory of the Holocaust, it is the repetition of the alarming trends of Europe and Germany before the Nazis in the current conditions of Israel.' According to General Golan, 'similar incidents to those of ninety years ago are now observable in our year of 2016.' These remarks drew a wave of criticism towards General Golan, to the extent that on Thursday, May 5, he issued a statement emphasizing that he did not intend to compare the Israeli army to Nazi Germany, adding that 'such a comparison is a disaster and has no basis.' Shortly after the Deputy Chief of Staff's remarks, Naftali Bennett, leader of the right-wing 'Jewish Home' party, wrote on his Twitter account: 'Before Holocaust deniers stand under the banner of General Golan's erroneous remarks and before, God forbid, our soldiers are compared to the Nazis with the permission of senior officials, it must be said that the Deputy Chief of Staff has made a mistake with these remarks and must rectify it.' According to Haaretz, Ayelet Shaked, the Justice Minister and a member of the 'Jewish Home' party, also stated on Thursday that the Deputy Chief of Staff was 'confused' and his remarks showed 'a lack of proper understanding of the facts and a belittling of the Holocaust.' Despite these criticisms, opposition leaders in Israel supported General Golan. Isaac Herzog, leader of the 'Zionist Union,' told Haaretz that General Golan is a 'brave' commander and 'those who have raised their voices against him in insult should know that he is ethical and has shown responsibility.' Zahava Gal-On, leader of the leftist 'Meretz' party, also told Haaretz that 'the remarks of the Deputy Chief of Staff show the depth of the rift between the army command and the political cadre (government); the politicians have provoked the army and are undermining its values.' These Israeli politicians referred to the army's actions in response to the violence of Palestinians against Israelis in the past seven months. General Eisenkot, the current commander of the Israeli army, recently warned soldiers not to 'empty a magazine on a 13-year-old girl holding a knife or scissors in the street every morning and evening, but rather to try to arrest these attackers.' According to Israeli media, on the anniversary of the Holocaust victims, remarks by General Benny Gantz, the former Chief of Staff of the army, have intensified right-wing Israeli criticism of him. In an interview on the anniversary of the memory of six million Jewish victims in the Holocaust, General Gantz stated that his mother, a survivor of the Nazi atrocities, reminded him during the summer of 2014, when the Israeli army was at war with Hamas in Gaza, that despite the war, the Israeli army should allow food shipments to reach Gaza. Gantz's reference was to the conditions under which the Nazis prevented water, food, and other supplies from reaching the ghetto of Warsaw and other areas where Jews were forced into labor until they were burned, leading to many deaths. Right-wing Israelis criticized General Gantz, saying that with these remarks he effectively compared the Israeli army, which was under his command, in relation to the war two summers ago with the Nazis. Two weeks ago, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian permanent observer at the United Nations, implicitly compared Israel's actions to those of Nazi Germany following a verbal confrontation with Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the UN. Mansour stated, 'All colonizers and occupiers, including those who suppressed the Warsaw uprising, labeled the nations that rose up as terrorists.' This senior Palestinian official referred to the uprising of Jews in the Warsaw ghetto against the Nazis; that uprising was suppressed but remained a lasting point of strength for the Jews. The Palestinian observer stated that Palestinians also 'have the legitimate right to resist occupation and labeling all of them as terrorists is condemned.' Holocaust memorial ceremonies are held worldwide on January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, based on a resolution passed by the UN General Assembly in 2005, but in Israel, these ceremonies have been held for decades according to the Hebrew calendar and one week before Independence Day.