ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing to travel to Poland for a highly emotional visit to the Auschwitz death camp after he warned of a sharp rise in anti-Semitism across the world.
A ceremony on Wednesday will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi camp where some 1.1 Jews perished between June 1940 and January 1945.
Mr Netanyahu will be accompanied to the camp later today (AEDT) by a delegation of Israeli MPs and Holocaust survivors.
The visit was set to be particularly emotionally charged for the hardline premier, whose wife's father was the only member of his family to survive the Nazi Holocaust in which some six million Jews were murdered.
"This will be a very emotional visit. No Jew can go to such a venue without having the weight of history and memory on his shoulders," the premier's spokesman Mark Regev said.
On the eve of his trip, Mr Netanyahu warned against a new rise of anti-Semitism in the wake of Israel's devastating war in the Gaza Strip last year, when some 1400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed, here is the following remarks PM Netanyahu gave at the begining of the weekly Cabinet meeting:
A ceremony on Wednesday will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi camp where some 1.1 Jews perished between June 1940 and January 1945.
Mr Netanyahu will be accompanied to the camp later today (AEDT) by a delegation of Israeli MPs and Holocaust survivors.
The visit was set to be particularly emotionally charged for the hardline premier, whose wife's father was the only member of his family to survive the Nazi Holocaust in which some six million Jews were murdered.
"This will be a very emotional visit. No Jew can go to such a venue without having the weight of history and memory on his shoulders," the premier's spokesman Mark Regev said.
On the eve of his trip, Mr Netanyahu warned against a new rise of anti-Semitism in the wake of Israel's devastating war in the Gaza Strip last year, when some 1400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed, here is the following remarks PM Netanyahu gave at the begining of the weekly Cabinet meeting:
"Tomorrow, I will depart for Poland to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the struggle against anti-Semitism, on the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz camp. I will be there with a number of Knesset Members and delegation from around the world. The struggle against anti-Semitism is more crucial than ever, because there is a substantial growth in the expression of anti-Semitism since Operation Cast Lead. This anti-Semitism is springing from a new direction – and it is attempting to negate the Jewish State and its right to self-defense. We identify three types of countries. The first type stand proudly, aggressively and clearly against anti-Semitism – USA, Canada, Germany, France and many other countries. The second type – countries which allow anti-Semitism and even lead measured anti-Semitism. Of course, an outstanding example of this is Iran, which is headed by someone who denies the Holocaust and spreads anti-Semitism in all directions. I believe that it is no coincidence that a synagogue was recently desecrated in Caracas, Venezuela. There is a group of countries that allow and lead anti-Semitism on the level of government policy. In the middle there are many other countries that do not do enough, and no less worse, in the name of freedom of speech allow intolerable expressions of anti-Semitism, without condemnation. On one hand they are defending freedom of speech – and deny themselves the freedom of expression that every government, and society, has to condemn unacceptable phenomena.
We are not confused on this issue. We condemn anti-Semitism everywhere. Today, the Government will establish a special team in order to strengthen the struggle against anti-Semitism, and to encourage our allies and descent countries that have enlisted in the struggle".