CFI Israel Delegation
Israel stood still this week to mark Yom HaShoah, the country’s annual Holocaust Memorial Day. The annual commemorations took place on Thursday across Israel, with events also held around the world including the UK. The day, one of the most important in Israel’s national calendar, started with millions of Israelis coming to a standstill at 10 a.m. as sirens sounded for two minutes across the country.
CFI Officers, Miriam Cates MP and Peter Gibson MP, have this week been in Poland as part of the UK delegation for the annual March of the Living which visits a series of sites linked to the Holocaust.
This year’s event also coincided with the arrival of a number of Ukrainian Holocaust survivors arriving in Israel as they fled Russia’s deadly invasion. Nine survivors arrived in Israel on Wednesday evening on a special chartered rescue flight. They join the almost 500 other Ukrainian Holocaust survivors who have arrived in Israel over the last two months.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett – speaking at Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust memorial – described the Holocaust as “not just a memory but a layer, part of the DNA that is passed down from generation to generation”.
Reflecting on the backdrop of political uncertainty in Israel and the politics of partisanship which has split Israel in recent years, Prime Minister Bennett stated that even during the “inferno of destruction” of the Holocaust, “the left and right failed to cooperate”. Warning that “we must not dismantle Israel from within”, he continued: “We have one army, one government, one parliament and one people – the people of Israel. When we are united, no external enemy can beat us”.
Bennett also rejected any comparison between the Holocaust and other wars. Bennett called the Holocaust “an unprecedented event in human history”, and challenged the increasing trend of tragic global events being compared to the Holocaust. He asserted: “No event in history, as cruel as it may have been, compares to the destruction of Europe’s Jews at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators”.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also spoke at the ceremony to liken Israel to a “lighthouse” for the world’s Jewry after the horrors of the Holocaust. Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz stated that “the mission to protect Israel is stronger than any ideological debate”. He continued by drawing attention to how often Israeli officials discuss security threats to Israel during this time, Gantz mentioned Iran specifically as one of these threats, finishing that Israel must be ready “to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities” if necessary.
