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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday compared Hamas to the Nazis during the official state ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, vowing that no international pressure would stop Israel from “settling the score” with the terror group following the October 7 attacks.
Speaking at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said, “Hamas murderers are exactly like the Nazis, like Hitler, like Haman. They want to kill, to annihilate, to destroy all Jews—and they openly declare their intention to destroy the Jewish state. That will not happen. We are determined to destroy the Hamas monsters who carried out the cruelest massacre of our people since the Holocaust.”
The ceremony, held under the theme “From the Depths: The Pain of Liberation and Growth,” was attended by President Isaac Herzog and senior members of the security establishment, including the heads of the Shin Bet, Mossad, and Israel Police. Netanyahu and his wife arrived 12 minutes late, citing a “security matter.”
Referring to the war in Gaza, Netanyahu said that 18 months after the October 7 attack, “we are systematically dismantling the chokehold of the Axis of Evil.” He recalled remarks made at last year’s ceremony, in which he had criticized elements of the international community for threatening to impose an arms embargo if Israel entered Rafah.
“They carried out that threat,” he said. “But I told our interlocutors, including our ally the United States: as Prime Minister of the Jewish state, whose people endured the Holocaust just decades ago, our hands will not be tied. No one will prevent us from defending ourselves. Entering Rafah is essential to victory in this war. No pressure and no decision will stop us from settling accounts with the barbaric, Nazi-like terrorists who murdered, raped, and kidnapped our loved ones.”
President Herzog, who spoke before Netanyahu, issued a strong plea for national unity amid ongoing internal tensions in Israel. “History will not forgive those who act irresponsibly and unravel us from within,” he said. “It will not forgive those who weaken the foundations of our beloved, unique, Jewish, and democratic state—born from the ashes of the Holocaust.”
Herzog described regular meetings he holds with Holocaust survivors, who consistently express anguish over societal divisions. “Their plea is piercing: ‘Mr. President, we beg you—this division is unbearable. Bring unity to our people.’”
He also addressed the 59 hostages still be held in Gaza. “There’s a chance some may hear us,” he said. “An entire nation is with you, aching for you, calling out for you. Our soul is scorched, and we will not be at peace until you return.”
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While acknowledging the Holocaust’s unique scale and systematic nature, Herzog said it was impossible not to see chilling echoes of that catastrophe in the atrocities committed on October 7. The audience broke into applause at the conclusion of his speech—an unusual gesture at the solemn event.
In addition to the Yad Vashem ceremony, a parallel memorial was held by the Massuah Institute in Tel Yitzhak, attended by senior defense officials and lawmakers. A special musical program, “Every Person Has a Song – Singing Together, Remembering Forever,” was broadcast from Yad Vashem later in the evening.
Thursday’s events will begin with a candle-lighting ceremony at the Knesset at 8 a.m., followed by a two-minute nationwide siren at 10 a.m. and an official wreath-laying ceremony at Yad Vashem with Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit, and Holocaust survivors.
Later Thursday, the 37th annual March of the Living will take place at Auschwitz, marking 80 years since the liberation of the Nazi death camps. President Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog will lead the march alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda and 80 Holocaust survivors, with participation from families of October 7 victims and former Hamas captives.