RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations called his Israeli colleague to apologize for his remarks accusing Israel of seeking a “final solution” against the Palestinians made a day after Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israel’s U.N. mission said.
Rafael Ramirez called Danny Danon over the weekend to offer the apology for what Danon called “blunt anti-Semitic statements” toward “the Jewish nation,” Israel’s U.N. mission said in a statement.
During the phone call, the statement said, Danon demanded that Ramirez issue a public apology, which may happen at the next Security Council meeting on the Middle East this week.
At a Security Council meeting on Friday, Ramirez said council members should ask themselves: “What does Israel plan to do with the Palestinians? Will they be disappeared? Is Israel trying to impose a ‘final solution’ on the Palestinians in the West Bank?”
The comparison, drawing a link between Israel and Nazi Germany, drew immediate outrage from Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom and France.
“The ambassador’s statements are a continuation of the Palestinian representative’s statements which equated Israel to the Nazis only a few days ago,” Danon said. “The Palestinians are bringing anti-Semitism to the U.N. and are bringing the language of racism to the world parliament.”
Last month, the Palestinian Authority representative to the U.N., Riyad Mansour drew a parallel between the Jewish resistance fighters during the Holocaust and the Muslim terrorists perpetrators of recent attacks in Israel.
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