President of Israel Isaac Herzog on Sunday condemned Brazilian President Lula da Silva, who accused Israel of performing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and compared the war against Hamas to the Holocaust.
"Just yesterday, I presented to the world at the Munich Security Conference a book found in Gaza praising and glorifying Hitler’s ideology and the Holocaust," the President wrote on X.
"Israeli soldiers are fighting a cruel terrorist organization which has as its stated goal the annihilation of the Jewish state, and advocates the suppression of other faiths and communities such as the LGBT community, and brutally continues to hold 134 babies, women, and men hostage in the dungeons of Gaza.
"And yet, there are still leaders who atrociously accuse the nation-state of the Jewish people of the evil of Hitler’s deeds."
Herzog concluded: "I utterly condemn such accusations and the immoral distortion of history, and call on all world leaders to join me in condemning such actions unequivocally."
During an interview in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Brazilian President stated: "What is happening in the Gaza Strip is not war. This is genocide. It is not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It is a war between a trained especially against women and children. What is happening in the Gaza Strip against the Palestinian people has not happened at almost any other time in history. In fact, it only happened once; when Hitler decided to kill the Jews."
He attacked some Western countries on their decision to stop aid to UNRWA in a meeting with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister, Mohammad Ibrahim Shtayyeh, during a visit to Africa and announced that his country would increase its support for the refugee agency.