Speaking on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israel’s President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder have highlighted the dangers posed by the Iranian regime.
"There will be just a few more short years before the living memories become memories," said Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress. Lauder compared Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Adolf Hitler. “I believe another horror is coming to our world. I am talking about what is happening in Iran. We have a man who denies the Holocaust. We have a man who talks about the destruction of Israel. Hitler had these same words and people did not take them seriously. We must take seriously what is happening with President Ahmadinejad. We must take seriously his threats and unless we do, we have a great deal of problems ahead. I only pray the free world will continue to fight against this tyrant,” Lauder said in a speech to the forum ‘Let My People Live’ held in Krakow, Poland.
European Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor, who organized the forum, warned against a policy of "appeasement" toward Iran. “Six thousand European companies cooperate with Iran on a daily basis," he told the ‘Jerusalem Post’, adding that the "main danger comes from Iran" and the "plan is to frighten Israel through Hezbollah." Kantor said the Iranians could deliver their "nuclear weaponry" to the Lebanese terror group.
In a press release on Wednesday, Ronald S. Lauder praised the German engineering company Siemens for its decision not to seek new business in Iran until Tehran fully complies with United Nations demands regarding its nuclear program.
Speaking before the Bundestag – the German parliament – in Berlin, Israeli President Shimon Peres called the Iranian government "a fanatic regime" and said its nuclear program represented “a threat to the entire world." Iran had a ‘‘regime that threatens destruction, accompanied by nuclear plants and missiles and who activates terror in its country and in other countries.’’ He said Israel, like its neighbors, identified ‘‘with the millions of Iranians who revolt against violence.’’
Watch video of President Peres' address to the Bundestag [German Language]
At the commemorative ceremony held in Auschwitz, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "From this site, I vow as the leader of the Jewish state that we will never again allow the hand of evil to destroy the life of our people and the life of our state. Never again! We will not allow the deniers of the Holocaust... to erase or distort the memory," he said.
In Tehran, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed confidence that Islamic nations would one day witness the destruction of Israel. Khamenei made the remark during a meeting with Mauritanian President Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz. Israel's continued "pressure to erase Palestine from the world of Islamic nations" would fail, he said, adding: "Surely, the day will come when the nations of the region will witness the destruction of the Zionist regime... when the destruction happens will depend on how the Islamic nations approach the issue.”
Iran’s most powerful cleric said: "The Zionist regime, by continuing to use pressure, blockades and committing genocide, wants to erase Palestine... but it will not succeed." Praising Mauritania for cutting its ties with Israel, Khamenei said the "Zionist regime is a great danger to the world of Islam as it was thinking of expanding its influence and grip on the region every day."
