Israelis angry after President Zelensky’s speech in Knesset

The reactions are numerous in Israel after the speech of the Ukrainian president in front of the Israeli Parliament. The Ukrainian president compared the situation of his country to that of the Jews during the Second World War. And that did not please the Israelis at all.

With our correspondent in Jerusalem, Michael Paul

Trivialization of the Holocaust and even Holocaust denial, Zelensky is trying to rewrite history, says an editorial writer. For the Israeli right, the Ukrainian president went too far in his analogy with the Holocaust, especially when he uttered two words: “final solution”.

The genocide also took place on Ukrainian soil, recalls Yoaz Hendel, a minister in Naftali Bennett’s government. For the left-wing daily Ha’aretz, despair and anger were evident in Zelensky’s remarks to a virtual Knesset [Volodymyr Zelensky s’est exprimé via Zoom, et les députés étaient également en virtuel en raison des vacances parlementaires en Israël et aussi de travaux dans l’hémicycle à la Knesset]. But one could also note a touch of disappointment. another newspaper, Maariv, compares him, the Ukrainian president to Émile Zola by crossing out his front page with this title: I accuse.

► To read also: Zelensky to Knesset: ‘Can we mediate between good and evil?’

Zelensky changes position

Indifference kills, underlined Volodymyr Zelensky. For the Israeli Minister for the Diaspora, Nachman Shaï, Israel can do better, particularly on the refugee file and by offering defensive military equipment, helmets and bulletproof vests to the Ukrainians.

But this Monday morning, just hours after his speech, Zelensky qualified his remarks: in a video posted on a social network, he said overnight that he included » Israeli interestsand that Israel should protect its population “.

Also to listen : In Ukraine, “Israel is caught in a strategic double bind between Americans and Russians”


All of our daily, live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

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