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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (Daniel Bar-On)
Last update - 00:55 29/01/2008
Olmert: Israel will not ignore any calls for its obliteration
By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondent, and DPA
Tags: Ehud Olmert, Holocaust 

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed Monday that Israel would not ignore any calls for its obliteration, as the Knesset held a special session to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

"We will not permit ourselves to be complacent to the sounds of voices calling for the obliteration of Israel, which are backed by murderous and jealous ideologies, tyrannical regimes, supporters of terrors and malicious programs to develop weapons of massive destruction," Olmert said during his address to the Knesset, held one day after the international day of remembrance.

The United Nations declared three years ago that each January 27 would be the International Day in Memory of Holocaust Victims.
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It was the first time since the end of World War II that the UN recognized the killing of an estimated 6 million Jews and minorities by Nazi Germany.

Germany nominated the day as a national day of commemoration in 1996, while the UN named the date International Holocaust Remembrance Day in November 2005.

In his address to Knesset on Monday, Olmert also accused the allies of the Second World War of not making even the slightest effort to stop the extermination of Jews.

"The killing machine worked nonstop. Military aircrafts bombed hundreds of thousands of places across Europe, but not one raid was meant to stop the extermination process. Auschwitz, the railroads, the trains and the platforms, all worked uninterrupted, like a clock, a Nazi clock, but the sky remained clear; the sun went up and down as usual. Rain fell, snow piled up, the murderer murdered, and not a single aircraft interrupted the killing routine," Olmert said.

Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik said during the session that at the height of the Holocaust many of Israel's present-day friends said they did not see, hear or know anything.

"Today, there is no doubt about the existential danger we're facing, and no one could claim that they didn't know," she said.

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu said that "the allies knew everything, but did not dispatch even one pilot. They had intelligence in real time and some of the most enlightened leaders of the 20th century. But they were apathetic to the fate of the Jewish people."

Also on Monday, The United Nations and Israel issue a special stamp to mark the day.

Ambassador Dan Gillerman said Israel has come out of isolation caused by the rejection of the once Arab-dominated UN General Assembly. Gillerman was elected a vice president of the 192-nation body for the current session that began in September.

"It's not the case any longer," said Gillerman, of Israel's isolation in the UN, which had once left it seen as a "permanent non-member."

He said there have been "improved feelings" between the UN and Israel and several symbolic steps have been taken to integrate Israel into the international community. The assembly has adopted fewer anti-Israel resolutions in recent years and last year elected Gillerman as one of 21 vice presidents to preside over its lengthy meetings.

Later on Monday, the UN General Assembly will hear addresses by survivors of Nazi death camps, including U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos, and a concert by the Tel Aviv University Symphony conducted by Zubin Mehta.

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      1.   When will the UN give the Palestinians their day? 20:21  |  Hakim 28/01/08
      2.   Send in the Clowns 20:21  |  Honest Observation 28/01/08
      3.   we won`t forgive and won`t forget 20:44  |  yonatan 28/01/08
      4.   the jews 20:50  |  sam i am 28/01/08
      5.   That`s right Olmert - take the grandstand two days before... 20:55  |  bat yam 28/01/08
      6.   None Would Be Too Many 20:56  |  surreal 28/01/08
      7.   Of course they knew. They didn·t want to believe.. 20:56  |  Stephen. 28/01/08
      8.   When will the UN give Israel a break and focus on even more... 20:56  |  Avi 28/01/08
      9.   Hakim~ when will the Palestinans give the Palestinians their day? 21:00  |  ZISD 28/01/08
      10.   the allies didn`t do enough? 21:01  |  hollingsworth 28/01/08
      11.   Hakim 21:05  |  Larry54 28/01/08
      12.   big "o" 21:05  |  Moshe 28/01/08
      13.   Answering Avi # 8 21:07  |  Clickfool 28/01/08
      14.   Empty rhetoric 21:10  |  Michael N 28/01/08
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      16.   Clickfool # 13 21:33  |  BRL 28/01/08
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      19.   1 21:37  |  Mega Byte 28/01/08
      20.   HAKIM "NAQBA" ??Arabs fault. Arabs started the annihilation war. 21:40  |  PETER SM 28/01/08
      21.   Innaccuracy on Churchill`s Memoirs 21:57  |  Kapplan 28/01/08
      22.   # 1 Hakim 22:03  |  AbuShanab 28/01/08
      23.   Avi, don`t even bother answering Clickfool. 22:11  |  Michael 28/01/08
      24.   surreal 6 22:19  |  realism 28/01/08
      25.   # 13. There he goes again. 22:24  |  dan 28/01/08
      26.   BRL #16 Regarding Clickfool He/She Can`t Help Him/Herself 22:28  |  Tim R 28/01/08
      27.   Clickfool #13 22:36  |  leo 28/01/08
      28.   Hakim - The UN already gave teh Arabs their day 22:45  |  David Israel 28/01/08
      29.   Hakim 22:59  |  George W. Bush 28/01/08
      30.   Thank you BRL... 23:02  |  Avi 28/01/08
      31.   Hakim 2 23:03  |  George W. Bush 28/01/08
      32.   then why is this guy consorting with abbas ? 23:22  |  v hardman 28/01/08
      33.   If you can`t lead them, scare them! 23:56  |  Mark Lincoln 28/01/08
      34.   to Kapplan 00:08  |  hollingsworth 29/01/08
      35.   Hakim, How dare you compare your people`s trifling troubles,... 00:31  |  akiva (zionist) 29/01/08
      36.   Alied strategy 00:35  |  james phillips 29/01/08
      37.   No. 24 and 6 - The Allies Shut the Doors 00:54  |  Actual Realism 29/01/08
      38.   Israel is now more dangerous to world peace 00:58  |  Tony 29/01/08
      39.   Not that Leaders Didn`t Believe 01:14  |  Jeff 29/01/08
      40.   #1; You had your day in 1947 and blew it 01:22  |  Doc Holliday 29/01/08
      41.   @36, houdy james. usa should be grateful to jews for 01:25  |  vladimir 29/01/08
      42.   Israel`s WMD. 01:33  |  Maureen Ann 29/01/08
      43.   Well we are the conscience of the world. 01:41  |  hollingsworth 29/01/08
      44.   #42 maureen ann 02:15  |  leo 29/01/08
      45.   Jusr for Mr. Olmert 02:17  |  Jim 29/01/08
      46.   Olmert - Aren`t You Aware of What the "Moderates" Said 02:39  |  Tod Zuckerman 29/01/08
      47.   #3 Yonatan 03:13  |  Jim 29/01/08
      48.   #8 Avi 03:35  |  Jim 29/01/08
      49.   #27 Leo 04:10  |  Jim 29/01/08
      50.   Jim #48 If Israeli Policy Makers Are Thugs Then .. 04:26  |  Tim R 29/01/08
      51.   #35 akiva (zionist) 04:29  |  Jim 29/01/08
      52.   # 38 Tony: 04:48  |  Jim 29/01/08
      53.   #13 Clickfool 05:07  |  geoff 29/01/08
      54.   Hakim #1 05:20  |  Gary 29/01/08
      55.   Maureen Ann, another ISM zombie 05:29  |  Stephen in New York 29/01/08
      56.   actual realism (?) 37 05:50  |  realism 29/01/08
      57.   Sam I am #4 The Jews 05:50  |  Gary 29/01/08
      58.   Murfreesboro Jim, JUST ONE SECOND. Mr.... 05:52  |  akiva (zionist) 29/01/08
      59.   Jeff of Studio City 05:57  |  realism 29/01/08
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