Benny Gantz
Benny GantzHadas Parush/Flash 90

Former IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. (res.) Benny Gantz said on Tuesday ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day that the Jewish people's victory over the Nazis is measured by, among other things, the way in which Israel uses its force.

"We must use force when needed, and be humane when possible," Gantz said in a meeting with youth in Jerusalem.

The ex-Chief of Staff added that during 2014 Operation Protective Edge when the IDF defended Israel from a Hamas onslaught, his mother, a Holocaust survivor, told him that Israel must be humane and provide food provisions to Gaza residents, reports Reshet Bet.

Journalist and publicist Shimon Riklin responded critically to Gantz's statements on Facebook.

"Good morning Benny Gantz. You said: 'Our victory over the Nazis is measured in the way that we use the force at our disposal,'" wrote Riklin. "It is saddening to see someone who was the Chief of Staff here speak this way."

"Because it doesn't matter with what intensity the IDF utilizes its force, it will never be like the army of the Nazis. Not even close," emphasized the journalist.

"It isn't even a comparison. And this statement proves that you take up the line of the paper Haaretz, that it is possible and appropriate to compare between Nazi Germany and the state of Israel in all sorts of subjects."

Riklin accused Gantz of committing a serious moral injustice, adding, "and besides Mr. Chief of Staff, we didn't defeat the Nazis."