Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Conference chaired by Israel at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday evening, delivered a message on the enduring and escalating threat of antisemitism, asserting its danger extends far beyond the Jewish people to encompass all of human society.

"The key issue that I want to address is the consequence of antisemitism, not only for the Jewish people but for human society," Netanyahu stated, thanking Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar for convening the important meeting. He characterized antisemitism as a "virulent disease that's going on for several millennia," noting that while the Jewish people have paid a "horrible price," other countries have also suffered.

Netanyahu drew a stark parallel to the Holocaust, where "Six million Jews died… but 60 million died during the war that it inspired." He recalled his historian father's prescient warning in 1933: "What starts with the Jews will not end with the Jews." The Prime Minister lamented that history might have been different had such warnings been heeded.

The Prime Minister then directly confronted the post-October 7 surge in antisemitism. "We have now a surge of antisemitism as we speak," he observed, noting the disappointment of those who expected a decline after "the most savage attack on the Jews since the Holocaust."

Instead, he highlighted "demonstrations, protests, in the capitals of the West and other countries that celebrate, celebrate these murderers, these rapists, these baby burners, these hostage takers. Celebrate."

He emphasized the symbolic significance of these protests, observing not only the burning of Israeli flags but also "the burning of American flags, British flags, Canadian flags, French flags. That’s not an accident. Because the people who are leading this charge are basically challenging Western civilization or free societies as we understand them."

Netanyahu declared Israel is fighting an "eight-front war," ultimately "the war, ultimately, of civilization against barbarism."

The Prime Minister meticulously detailed the patterns of antisemitism, particularly the preceding stages of vilification and dehumanization. He cited historical libels: "we poisoned the wells in medieval times, we take Christian children, the blood of Christian children and bake matzahs for Passover with them, we spread vermin." He noted the chilling continuity into Nazi propaganda, which used "exactly the same thing" to "prepare them for the kill, for the butcher."

Comparing the October 7 massacre to an attempt to recreate the Holocaust, Netanyahu quoted former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who visited the sites and remarked, "They’re just like the Nazis." The key difference, Netanyahu pointed out, was that "The Nazis tried to hide their crimes. These people went with GoPro cameras and they publicized it for the whole world to see. They were very proud of what they were doing." He warned of Hamas's genocidal intentions and Iran's open calls for Israel's annihilation, citing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's tweets.

The Prime Minister then addressed the lies propagated against Israel, particularly regarding its conduct in the Gaza conflict. He firmly rebutted the accusation that Israel deliberately targets civilians. "The first thing they say is you’re slaughtering people deliberately. That’s a complete destruction, a complete annihilation of the laws of war."

Netanyahu explained the tactical challenge posed by Hamas, which uses civilians as human shields - a "double war crime." He likened Hamas's tactic to deliberately placing civilians in harm's way, contrasting it with accidental civilian casualties in legitimate military operations, such as the 1944 RAF bombing of Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen.

He further elaborated on the unique challenges of warfare in Gaza, describing it as a "closed arena." He noted that Hamas "is trying to lock the Palestinian civilian population within the place where we conduct the war. That’s what they do. How do they lock them in? They shoot them if they want to leave."

Netanyahu defended the IDF's actions in Rafah, where despite international warnings, Israel insisted on entering to complete the mission against Hamas. "By the time we got to Rafah, 1.4 million of Gaza’s 2.2 million people were in Rafah," he stated. He recalled being told "don’t go into Rafah," with dire predictions of "20,000 civilian casualties."

"I said, of course they have a place to go. That place is on the beach. It’s two kilometers away. On the beach," Netanyahu asserted. He revealed that "within six days... the number of civilian casualties we had in Rafah was practically zero. Practically zero. Because they all left."

The Prime Minister stressed Israel's extraordinary efforts to prevent civilian casualties. "We are texting civilians by the millions. Millions of text messages, millions of phone calls, cellphone calls, millions of pamphlets, 'Please get out.' Because we are going to come in." He highlighted that "the ratio of non-combatants to combatants killed in the most dense urban warfare arena in modern history is the lowest in the Gaza war," a fact corroborated by experts like John Spencer of West Point.

Finally, Netanyahu debunked the "second lie" - that Israel has a policy of starvation in Gaza. "That’s the current fad, the current lie. Well, that’s false too." He affirmed that from the war's early days, Israel allowed the supply of "essential requirements: food, water, medicine," providing "1.8 million tons of food and aid." As evidence, he pointed to the physical condition of Palestinian Arab prisoners taken by the IDF. "Thousands and thousands of prisoners taking their shirt off and you don’t see one, not one emaciated from the beginning of the war to the present."

Prime Minister Netanyahu concluded by reiterating the critical nature of the fight against antisemitism and the broader battle for civilization.

“The last thing I want to do is to address the leaders of Jewish communities who came to us from around the world. The most important thing you have to do in fighting antisemitism is to stand up and not be cowered. People value and respect people who stand up for their own rights. Do not be afraid to speak up. Speak up, stand up for the truth, stand up for the Jewish people, stand up for civilization. And I ask that all of you do the same. Thank you,” he stated.