Prime Minister Naftali Bennett responded to Zelenskyy's speech to the Knesset yesterday, referring to Israel's approach to the war in Ukraine, "a sensitive and generous one" after the premier insinuated Israel was not doing enough to help his country.
"Israel has provided [humanitarian] aid to Ukraine since the very beginning of the war," said Bennett, adding that the Jewish State has, "approached the complex crisis with understanding and responsibility while balancing a gamut of different considerations."
Bennett made the remarks during a ceremony marking the departure of a medical delegation hoping to establish a field hospital in the war-torn country.
The Prime Minister's remarks came after senior government ministers ripped Zelenskyy's Knesset speech on Sunday, insisting he had belittled the memory of the Holocaust.
During his speech, the Ukrainian leader drew parallels between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24th, and the German Nazi Party’s rise to power, noting that the party presented its 25-Point Program calling for the total segregation of Jews in Germany and the ending of their legal rights as citizens.
“The 24th of February will go down in history as being a day of tragedy in Ukraine twice over – for Ukraine, for the Jews, for Europe, and for the world as a whole.”
“On the 24th of February, 1920, the National Socialist German Workers' Party - the Nazi Party – the party which murdered millions and destroyed entire countries” revealed its plan against German Jews," noted Zelenskyy.
“My people are now searching for support around the world, just as you once did. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not just another military operation, as Moscow has tried to portray it. It is a wide-scale, unjustified war which is intended to destroy our people, our country, our cities, our culture, and our children – everything that makes us Ukrainians.”
“That is why I can make the comparison between what is happening to us and your history," he continued.
“During World War II, [the Nazis] tried to get rid of [all the Jews], not to leave any. They called it ‘The Final Solution.” I’m sure you haven’t forgotten and never will. But what is Moscow saying now? Listen to what they’re saying: they’re using the words ‘a final solution’. Now it is targeting us with regards to Ukraine," added Zelenskyy in his address.
"The president of Ukraine attacked Israel and made an outrageous comparison to the Holocaust. This is a distortion of history," some MKs were quoted as saying after the speech.
MK Simcha Rothman of the Religious Zionism party pointed out that while he "does not understand Ukrainian, if the translation [was] accurate, Zelenskyy asked us to behave towards the Ukrainians as they behaved towards us 80 years ago."
"I'm sorry, but I think we'll pass on his request. Regardless [of what they did to us], we are a moral nation, a light unto the nations," quipped the MK.
Chairman of Religious Zionism, MK Bezalel Smotrich, added, "I attended Zelenskyy's speech to express solidarity with Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. His criticism of Israel is legitimate and so is his voicing of expectations from us. Not so is his outrageous and unfounded comparison to the Holocaust, and his attempt to rewrite history and erase the involvement of the Ukrainian people in the extermination of the Jews in his country."
MK Orit Strook (Religious Zionism) responded to the address by saying, "Our hearts, as well as our support and efforts, are with the Ukrainian people, who are now suffering a brutal, unjustified attack, which is inflicting heavy losses. From here to comparing these events to the Holocaust – the distance is great."
"The comparison to Nazism, the use of the phrase 'the Final Solution,' and the mention of Babi Yar – are out of place. As members of the House of Representatives of the State of Israel -- we cannot agree to that," she concluded.