Netanyahu criticised over Holocaust comments

Updated
Netanyahu Criticized Over Saying Palestinian Leader Prompted Holocaust
Netanyahu Criticized Over Saying Palestinian Leader Prompted Holocaust


Israel's premier Benjamin Netanyahu has been sharply criticised over bizarre comments he made about the Holocaust.

He told a Zionist Congress meeting that Hitler had only wanted to expel Jews from Germany but that it was the late Palestinian holy leader Haj Amin al-Husseini who encouraged him to kill them.

His explosive comments came in a month when scores of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces and extremist Jewish settlers. Eight Israelis have also been killed.

Germany has said it has no reason to change its view of history after Netanyahu's remark.

Chancellor Angela Merkel made it clear she saw no need for a shift in interpreting history, saying: "We abide by our responsibility for the Shoah."

Earlier, her spokesman Steffen Seibert said the Holocaust was "very much" a German crime, according to The Guardian.

"Speaking on behalf of the German government, I can say that all of us Germans know very precisely the history of the murderous racial fanaticism of the National Socialists that led to the break with civilisation that was the Shoah," Seibert said.

"This is taught in German schools for good reason. It must never be forgotten. And I don't see any reason that we should change our view of history in any way whatsoever. We know that responsibility for this crime against humanity is German and very much our own."

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