Hod Hasharon Mayor and Yesh Atid member Amir Kochavi spoke at a Yom HaShoah event and compared the IDF’s actions in Gaza to Naza atrocities.

“We must not remain silent in the face of atrocities against people of other nationalities in the world – even if they are carried out in our name,” he said.

“Jewish morality dictates – never again, not only to us, but to all nations as an ethical and moral commandment of a just and healthy society.”

“There are 59 people in Gaza; their ‘never again’ is still going on. Lust for revenge, blood, and destruction has not brought back the dead – and not the living either.”

“As descendants of Holocaust survivors who, together with other pioneers, established the Jewish state, we must ensure that the memory of the Holocaust, the processes that led to it, its legal and ethical justifications, and the silence that accompanied it, all serve as a warning sign to the whole world. Also to us, so that we remember and be careful.”

His words caused a major furor. Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman responded sharply, stating: “On Yom HaShoah, while 59 hostages are languishing in the inferno of Gaza, the mayor of Hod Hasharon, Amir Kochavi, is inciting against the IDF and standing by the terrorists. I expect Yair Lapid, with whose party Kochavi is identified, to condemn his words immediately.”

Culture Minister Miki Zohar responded: “The embarrassing words of the mayor of Hod Hasharon are a spit in the face of Holocaust survivors – those who immigrated to Eretz Yisrael, established a state, and survived the terrible massacre carried out by ‘other nations’. I have no doubt that the vast majority of Hod Hasharon residents disavow these outrageous statements.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)