Netanyahu's speech / Cheapening the Holocaust

"to give our children the chance to live without the warring threats" And do you suppose, Ishaq, that after laying down in the path of Israel's enemies that there will still be Israeli children to live without warring threats? What an idyllic dream world you must live in.

James Michael Price: You seem to be having an "each way" bet?

"doubtful ... would buy the comparison the prime minister made between Hamas and the Nazis" The difference is in scale of economy only. Hitler willingly killed his own - anyone even suspected of aiding jews. So does Hamas. Hitler aimed at genocide. Hamas has vowed, and displayed their intent to exterminate you and your people. "Israel telephoned [to evacuate]." Do you know of any other nation that has warned their aggressors' civilians of an impending strike? "No less demagogic was his attack on the Iranian regime." Oh, the one that has vowed to wipe Israel off the map? " They shoot demonstrators there, he protested vehemently. As if they don't do that in our Bil'in and Na'alin." Really? And left you untouched to publicise your protest around the world? Aww come on.. who are you working for? "Bashar Assad, ...knocking ...for years" But what was the catch? "propagandist prime minister" Is THAT what you call a patriotic leader these days?

"why should others not compare the Nazis' behavior to that of Israel Defense Forces soldiers?" Well, for a start you have gotten away with your life (presumably) after publishing in a "Israel's leading paper". Imagine how you would have faired under Hitler had you been defending the jews in a german national paper? I doubt you would have been allowed 24 hrs more breath. In WWII time, if supporting Germany in an English paper you would have been incarcerated for treason. So the very existence of your article denies any comparison. "Once, when he brandished proof of the very existence of the Holocaust, as if it needed any..." Despite the mountain of evidence, Israel's enemies certainly ARE denying the holocaust at worst and minimising it at best. Worse, they accuse Israelis of using it as a justification for revenge. How can your Mr Netanyahu be "cheapening" the Holocaust by demonstrating before the world its veracity? Sir, I believe you ARE guilty of treason.

"The public still repeats, time after time, the silly story that at Wannsee the extermination of the Jews was arrived at." Mr. Bauer goes on to say that, "Wannsee was but a stage in the unfolding of the process of mass murder." (Canadian Jewish News, Jan. 30, 1992) That is his belief, and he was the head of Yad Vashem!

Shame on you Gideon levy. Your new name is idiot levy. Its obvious you are a self hating jew. Smarten up,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

it is a shame he had to show proof after 60 years only yes..but when people can sit there and listen to that bastard iranian president call it a lie..it seems maybe people need to be constantly reminded..and how dare you compare israeli soldiers, who sent text messages, emails, and phonecalls to the civilians about impending attacks..they weren't the ones who hid in mosques, hospitals, and used civilians as shields...those people are barely people

I couldn't stop the floods of tears when Bibi spoke, its just so moving, the terror and the torment he and his people have lived through, the man is a saint, how dare anyone question this man? he is g*ds sword of truth, and his sincerity shines with every word. If he says Blitz, then its a Blitz. Never again must Isarel be firebombed.

My house in Virginia motivates no murderous campaign to end my occupation of land taken from the people who preceded people like me by several thousands of years. It passes the international community?s legitimacy test for reasons more of global disinterest than any stated and universally applied principles. A Jew?s home built on land where Jews resided continuously for more than 3,000 years does not pass the test for reasons more of corruption and expediency than any stated and universally applied principles. That this land was twice ceded in territorial compromise with resident and neighboring Arabs (in 1947 and again in 2000) and twice rejected by them counts for nothing. An oil-dependent world insists that it is nevertheless Arab land and, from the Arab mindset, no Jew ever lived their anyway. The entire history of Jews, the Holocaust included, is a Zionist lie. And, by the way, the homes of Jews in Tel Aviv have no more legitimacy than those on the West Bank according to the Arab thinking and talking, supported worldwide by useful idiots, opportunists, and Jew haters.

I am shocked by Gideon Levy's article. It's almost as if we did not hear the same speech. He writes "That moment was supposed to move his listeners, but it left me, at least, unmoved by a propagandist prime minister." I showed the video of the speech to many people, jew and non-jew alike and all were moved and impressed by Netanyahu's speech. It was one of the best speeches I have ever heard.

to judge the authenticity of my posts.

gideon levy would criticize israel for being buried in a coffin that was too big and ugly. gideon levy is a sensationalist who only knows one thing.

wow... admirable family man, as support for Israel you seem a lot closer to Mr. Ahmadinejad then PM of Israel. I think when the question regarding existnce of 6 millions is raised in international assembly, it is appropriate to produce a document to refute deliberations, if the fact already proven beyond reasonable doubt. You might not like it, but he was not speaking on behalf of 6 millions. Those 6 millions already spoke all they could. He was speaking for the survivors. It's their right to refute physician approved "end - of - life" treatment he is fighting for.

By the way, even if you have not done sufficient research to provide evidence to dispute my claims (or to challenge the accuracy of the facts I provided), do you think you would be capable of articulating the facts or conclusions about which I was, in your view, overconfident or insufficiently circumspect? Or would it require just too much attention to actual evidence on your part specifically to respond to something I actually said?

I am only confident that I am drawing conclusions from verifiable evidence contained in reputable sources, rather than posting completely unsupported conclusions as the poster to whom I responded did and remains content to do. If you wish to dispute my conclusions, feel free, but please do so on the basis of verifiable evidence, so we can have a rational discussion, rather than your pointless speculation about evidence you cannot provide.

We have our received national historical record and our "new" historical record. Both are based on the files our government has consented to release plus files other governments have consented to release. These purport to speak for both sides for reasons you will be familiar with. The record, however, is far from complete. A little more circumspection and hesitation might make you consider things like that before you sally forth. But maybe the point is to bat erudite quotations around, not to arrive at truth.

Please stop posting under the real eric's Talkback name. The real eric, despite his audacious disrespect for the truth and extreme comfort with unsupported conclusions and mindless repetition of propaganda, would nevertheless not stoop to the laughable excuses you have provided in his name, you impostor. You are just trying to make real eric look like more of a know-nothing than even he has thus far given evidence of being. Shame on you.

All I can say is that Bibi certainly has no right to speak on the behalf of my grandfather who was killed at Auschwitz. I agree with Mr. Levy that Bibi cheapens the memory of the six million who perished.

Israeli PM Mr Netanyahu was quoted today for repeating the maxim of the famous Jewish sage and pacifist Hillel the Elder who said " If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself what am I? And if not now when?" But Mr Netanyahu used it in the context of war, going against the philosophy of the quote, which was used to encourage any individual human being to return to the wisdom of the path of Peace. It is about making peace that we say "If not now, when?" Mr Netanyahu, not about going to war. We must say "if not now when?" about peace, not about war, to give our children the chance to live without the warring threats of insensitive people like you, like Mr Ehud Barak, and like your current favorite enemy, Mr Ahmedinejad. I recommend the same psychiatrist for the 3 of you.

He produced doccuments to prove it. A most appropriate move in the light of that dictator/murderers speech If thats dishonour,you have the problem with honor,Mr Levi not Netanyahu.

Since Joshua's conquest, Jews had 1,100 years of kingdoms in Israel. During Persian, Greek and Roman expulsions the elite of the Jews in the cities were expelled - the majority, in between the cities, remained Jewish. The Jews held majority in Israel far longer than the Arabs. The 7th century Arab conquest first ended Jewish majority in Israel, the Arabs originating in - surprise - Arabia. Again, the invaders expelled the Jewish elite and many Jews were forced to convert to Islam to save their lives and lands. Some Jewish communities in Israel, the oldest Jewish settlements in the world, hung on for millennia, such as in Hebron. Israel is the ancestral Jewish homeland, known so for millennia, and for millennia regretted, denied and scorned by multitudes who remain deeply jealous of the Jews. In a world of nations, it is the one nation that so many still find fashionable to hate, by pure math odds, as Judaism inspired yet contradicts 2 later faiths of billions. Nothing new there.

Mike, I like your logic, although it is entirely irrelevant to my original point: among the groups that once co-habited the region, the Jews are the only ones who remain. Find me a Jebusite, and goshdarnit, you'll have me beat. Although clearly there's something odd about comparing an unquestionable Arab claim over 100% of the middle east when the contravening Jewish claim is to 0.05%. Yes, a majority among feudal serfs in an Ottoman province justifies handing it to those land-poor Arabs. Europe gets to wipe its hands clean and send those damned Jewish refugee boats from Hamburg back whence they came. But consider. From across the Middle East in the 1940's there were 900,000 Jews who were later expelled and robbed of their belongings. On the basis of proportional land allocations, the total Arab population of the time being 50 million, these Jews alone warrant a little more than 1.5 percent of the middle east: 3 times Israel's current land mass. Again, I like your logic.

hiya lady! better question is where have YOU been? but it IS good to know you're still out there. lol... cheerz!

and it was much more pervasive, and even systematic, than you obviously would care to believe. i've learned the hard way that spending an hour detailing things or hunting down links trying to open a closed mind is a waste of time. suffice to say that there's plenty of information available on the subject from independent and reliable sources. and please don't insult me by suggesting that i frequent propaganda websites. i don't care for them...no matter who's view they're selling.

the anti-humanity monstrosity called the UN.

Whatever strengths and weaknesses Gideon Levy possesses, he does not represent "the light"; he is a columnist expressing opinions, opinions that, like all of ours, are subject to the usual human failings in our efforts to understand and express what is normatively justified and what is not.

Gideon Levy is always candid and speaks what most Israelis do not want to hear. The blind supporters of a government who is every bit as abusive of those they condemn cannot tolerate the truth. Darkness hates the light and when the light of truth is shed by Levy, those who dwell in darkness cover their eyes and shout, "No more".

Chris Linthwaite It is in your twisted mind the Netanyhu condemned Britain for bombing Dresden He is simply stating facts, were it was moral for the British and her allies to target, bomb and flatten entire cities with civilian population! My PM as he said is not passing judgment in any way! I too am not passing judgment in any way, But since you ask me questions I answer you with a question of my own, Has Israel completely flattened Gaza as the British did in Dresden? Have the British made an attempt to minimize civilian casualties as Israel did in Gaza? Have we killed tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza as the British did in Dresden? What was the objective of flattening Dresden and killing its civilian population? There is exactly where our morality is! But nothing Chris!

Why are you insulting Wizo's women intelligence in your article cheapening the Holocaust? They do more to help Israeli society than you do.

Hamas wants to wipe Israel, which by the way if you have not noticed, is primarily Jewish off the face of the earth.

The leader of the Stern Gang, a tiny splinter group from the Irgun, who foolishly thought he might save more Jews by appealing to the Nazis to send them to Palestine, was hardly representative of Zionism or Zionist leadership. He was at constant odds with them and in fact the Zionist "leadership of the Yishuv even deployed the Haganah alongside British forces to suppress the Stern Gang" (Gelvin, Israel-Palestine Conflict, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 119). But of course the overwhelming force of historical fact will never bend you, eric, from the current propaganda smear of Zionists popular at the moment on Talkback. You prefer to ignore historical fact, or take it so far out of proportion to the actual events (without citing any facts at all of course even to do that)that the historical record becomes for you a mere inconvenience to ignore.

The land was an Arab majority far longer than it was a Jewish majority. When did the Jews own the land for 300 years prior to 1948? The Arabs had it for nearly 1400 years and were the most recent tenants until Israel drove them out. I mean come on now, if you want to speak of historical claims, the Canaanites were the original inhabitants and as a matter of fact, I don't recall the Hebrews originating from Israel. Wasn't it that country to the west of it :) ?

Hamas has adhered to a cease fire in Gaza and their living conditions worsen. Fatah whose current leaders are bought and owned by the Israeli Knesset have done Israel's dirty work and provided calm in the West Bank. What have they got in return? Nothing but more illegal settlements in the WEST BANK. Israel's policy continues to be to make the world feel guilty for the Holocaust (admittingly it was the most horrific crimes in mankind) and by doing so, continue to steal more Palestinian land. I hope one day that backfires and the 2 state solution is ruined and the only solution for peace will be a single state with equal rights for all the inhabitants.

You claim Zionists "capitalized" on Hitler's persecution of Jews in many cases to the point of collaborating with the Nazis: you promote a standard propaganda line devoid of facts. Here are some facts. "Within four months of the outbreak of the war, the Jewish Agency gave the authorities a list of 134,000 Jews [in Palestine] who wanted to serve in the British army -- one out of every two men of military age and 20,000 women" (Segev, One Palestine, Complete, 2000, p. 450). Ultimately, 25,000 to 28,000 of them served in the British Army, curtailed only by the British reluctance to enlist too many and alienate the Arabs (Morris, Righteous Victims, p. 166). David Raziel, the commander of the Irgun, died while fighting with an Irgun team on a British-led mission, killed by a German aircraft. Yet you, eric, consider your impoverished, fact-free propaganda agenda a license to rewrite history.

you support is from those baying for israel's blood.your support here is a fraction of a fraction.

Gideon Levy is always candid and speaks what most Israelis do not want to hear. The blind supporters of a government who is every bit as abusive of those they condemn cannot tolerate the truth. Darkness hates the light and when the light of truth is shed by Levy, those who dwell in darkness cover their eyes and shout, "No more".

"What kind of morality or humanity does Israel`s action have?" None a Californian would understand. "Zack".

I cannot understand how a decent person can use the holocaust as a political tool. Perhaps Israel needs a new prime minister.

Hearing Netenyaho talk about a rosy humanity and preaching morality is hypocritical. What kind of morality or humanity does Israel's action have?

WW2 happend because Zionism wants to protect you against assimilation. But it is your fate to be "assimilated". Look at the demographic shift and birthrates. Without propaganda and quassams the "Judenstaat" does not work. Zionism will fail without wiping out Palestinians. Zionists are Racists, against Polish-Jews, Black-Jews, Orthodox, Leftists, Greens, Democracy and anti-Zionist movements. Its the mind of Nazism, the smell of Catolics and a clean race backed up by American and German taxes, Tax havens, Jewish philantropists and Jewish Bankers of German origin. The whole construct is so great that it burns one's brain. Bread and games until the bitter end.

Gideon Levy, you are a pearl between swines. Please go on with your intelligent articles. You hit the spot this time, like in other comments you've made. It's hard to fight with words a demagogue manipulator like Netanyahu, but you did very clear.

is the child of survivors. Tragic.

J.B of Chicago, there are over 150,000 Palestinians living within 10 miles of Tel Aviv; you don't seem to be aware that if the city is nuked, so will those 150,000 Palestinians. The fallout would kill the other 3 or 4 million other Palestinians in the general area. Get a map of Israel and the WB; it may help with the paranoia.

Israelis on these talkbacks condemned the british reaction to the Blitz. What are your views on Dresden. Even netanyahu on British telly wneh he was in London during Lebanon2 condemned Britain for bombing Dresden. So what is it to be? You agree with the UK's reaction to being attacked by Germany (London was least affected BtW. Hull suffered 98% bomb damage to all it's buildings). What was the percentage of buildings damaged in Israel? Was casualties numbered in the thousands like in the UK?

... in the purported academic college at Ariel on choice Pal land...?!

Janice Gideon has Selective Hearing, He hears what he wants to hear, Did Netanyahu compare Hamas to the Nazis? No he didn`t, Only in Gideon`s twisted mind of Selective Hearing of his OWN thoughts Netanyahu compare Hamas to the Nazis! When Netanyahu mentioned the London Blitz he gave an example of the only example in history where thousands of rockets being fired at a country`s civilian population and what was the reaction to it, this was an example to those who question the way Israel reacted! There was no comparison between Hamas to the Nazis, only in Gideon`s twisted manipulative mind there was! And you call Gideon a light unto the Israelis? If he is the light, I as an Israeli prefer to stay in the darkness, surly there is more light in my darkness then were Gideon is at!

Although Chris'converted to Christianity the rest of his family are all practising Jews. Parents and rest.I know this from him and am not making it up. Bye for now.But glad you responded in your way. He deserves what censure he gets from some when he responds hatefully always. G'mar chetuva tova

re your writing on gaza. i respect you.but i seek answers to your gaza writings you have ctiticised the operation in gaza without suggesting how else israel would operate.please finish the idea and bring it to a logical end.

Liberals like Levy are from the same breed as the Jews of Nazi germany who heard the whispers and denied that anything could or would happen. "It's all scare tactics," they said. Well, unfortunately these people will never understand the dangers until a nuclear bomb is actually detonated in an Israeli city - and by then, their unity with those that had warned about it for years will be worthless. Furthermore, to the point that defending truth somehow disrespects victims - again, this is lunacy. My grandmother is a holocaust survivor and, like so many others, she was proud that someone actually took to the floor of that corrupt institution to try and shed some light. This was not an affront to the memory of the holocaust, but rather a rebuke to the international community for turning their backs on moral clarity. Shame on those - like Levy -who always play the role of the contrarian.

At last S you for once you have told the truth and I applaud you for it. I wrote several posts that have not seen the light of day whereby I told a few here about the mention of the HOLOCAUST by My Prime Minister's at the UN and its specific reason in doing so. Which apart in bringing the UN's dismal behaviour,IT WAS ADDRESSED TO AHMEDINEJAD'S constant denials/demands to see proof of the HOLOCAUST. Frankly it is far too boring to mention that deluded man's thoughs on this subject.For his concern is not about Israel/Jews,but trying to obfuscate the issue of his NUCLEAR ambitions,thus Israel/Jewish "HOLOCAUST" is the easiest option for that miserable islamofascist.

those events do not need us to supply proof.moreover those asking for proof are often those with animosity in their hearts.they are immune to reason and logic. finally it is demeaning to wave papers in front of the un seeking to prove that which needs none.

Those of you who refer to the Holocaust "industry"... I have a question: Why be so selective about the concept? Is there not a "Nakba industry" that exploits the Palestinians' collective memory about their loss -- by minting dozens of PhD's every year, which in turn leads to the publication of countless books and journal articles -- in order to generate sympathy for the children and grandchildren of the Palestinians who were dispossessed? You better believe there is! And is there not an even larger "anti-Zionism" industry of professors, publications, and a steady stream of acolytes (of which the "Nakba industry" is just one component), which produces not just sympathy for Israel's neighbors, but which flirts dangerously (and deliberately) with anti-Semitism to acheive its goals? There are plenty of exploitative intellectual "industries" that you people could mention. Please stop being so myopic.

Nice history lessen re right to the land. Now how about this more recent reasoning: Israel has an Absentee Property Law. Any Arab who fled or was absent from his property through expulsion even for a short while, has thus forfeited ownership.Now - since the Yehudim were absent from their land not only before Cyrus but also again after 135 C.E. for 2000 years - could the Pals not invoke the Absentee Property Law ?? Just kidding - but history can be spun any which way. David

The purpose of this ridiculous speech was only ONE thing : To send the listeners on a guilt trip and deflect from the atrocities of Cast Lead, settlement grabs and asssorted other ugly deds. It's been used so often, it is reflexive. It doesn't occur to "Bibi" that it no longer works. David

Surely you are a light unto the Israelis.

... long before he came to the UN assemply... it was by no means a spontaneous response to Ahmad... ... together with the most radical of his cronies, Bibi had decided to use the trump card, the Holocaust, in a supreme effort to intimidate Obama and subjugate the USA to radical Israel's will... ... all for the sake of soothing the settler lobby, and dealing a knockout to the ambitions of Ya'alon et al... ... well, he succeeded beyond his own expectations (a camera caught the jubilation of Sarah & Bibi...) ... it's a sad day for Obama and all those who had hoped for genuine 'change'... G'mar chatima tova. E

Enough with the far left Jews attacking anything that doesn't fit their radical model. Levy won't be happy until all Israelis have been killed and Israel is destroyed. He and his ilk keep working to destroy there own country and don't seem to care that Israel's enemies are not sitting around making nice, but actually working to murder him and his family.

"Bibi uses the right things for the wrong reason... to bombard Obama and the UN with the holocaust, as the be all and end all of all Israel`s efforts....etc." No, no, and no! He's brought up this because of Ahmadinejad's influencing a whole UN Assembly to listen enraptured at his description of the 60 million dead in WWII, of which only a lousy 6 million (and not even that because Israel is lying) are Jews. So what is the big deal???? Quite frankly, as I write, I feel like showing you too the plans of Auschwitz!! But, anyway, Shabbat shalom...

Thank you Mr. Levy for your courageous, honest, and just voice.

In an endlessly recurrent debate (about using the Holocaust for political gains) you have made the essential points, that all people should be aware off. Thank you.

I fail to see how PM Natanyahu cheapened the memory of The Holocaust; or comparing Hamas to Hitler's regime. Bear in mind that over recent times, (and because fanatic leaders such as Ahmadinejad) extremist elements have tried to play down the atrocities and mass murders of the Jewish people and others - these attempts to belittle The Holocaust were futile of course but they did serve to create 'doubts'. As such, Israel Prime Minister's speech is a timely reminder of the evil in our midst. I say "well done" and shame to newsman Gideon Levy for writing negatively - if Mr Levy did not point this out, I would not have even viewed Natanyahu's speech as 'chesp'; IT IS GIDEON LEVY WHO HAVE CHEAPENED HIMSELF.

... Bibi uses the right things for the wrong reason... to bombard Obama and the UN with the holocaust, as the be all and end all of all Israel's efforts.... this is too risky a gamble, it squanders the Israel's tragic 'capital' for self-glorification...

Holocaust deniers like Ahmadinejad should be denounced at every opportunity, no matter how boring, painful, repetitive, difficult, embarrassing and stressful it is. If a lie is repeated often enough it becomes the truth. Bibi has them all on the back foot now, Ahmadinejad, his supporters and even those who listened to him in the UN. Had Bibi said nothing, the focus would now be on Ahmadinejad's comments about the Palestinians and a few more holocaust deniers would be added to the world's population.

IT SOUNDS PETULANT, GIDI. CAREFUL. BETTER YOU SHOULD LIFT THE CHIPS OFF YOUR SHOULDER, and say: THANKS PRIME MINISTER..

I agree with Gideon Levy. Who was Bibi trying to convince about the Holocaust truth? And what right has he got to judge Iran's internal policy? A waste of precious time. Instead he could have pointed out our hopes for a better future to all of us.

"Ms. Siegelman`s comments are emotion-based only...Clearly she is not a geo-politically aware woman. Also, from the wording of her comment, I`ll bet you a million Euros that she also supports Sarah Palin, another propagandist who plays VERY loose with the facts." (mujer) Since when should Netanyahu speak to "geo-politically aware" people??? Those over hundred UN representative countries are representing geo-political people in Africa, Asia, South America, etc? More, are the overwhelming majority of Americans in the South, West, Mid-West, and yes, New York, really geo-politically aware? No! They are famously not. But you and Gideon are way too snobbish... Furthermore, your million Euros bet about Palin is quite childish for an aware geo-political person...

... in Ha'aretz 25/9/09... says it all...

Slow down. Netanyahu never initiated the invocation of the Holocaust in the Israeli-Arab conflict. That honor belongs to Ahmadinajad. Response to a systematic assault on history and memory is not exploitation, it is a response, plain and simple. The cute trick that your pulling is that you can take a response to the torrent of genocidal hatred from one regime and then claim it is a "deflection" by the responder. Never mind that it was Iran who launched the proxy wars of Gaza and South Lebanon in order to deflect attention from its own nuclear weapons program in the first place. This is not about Europe. It's about Jews and the right to live in peace in their ancestral homeland. Even as the Arab armies violated Israel's borders in 1948, the nascent Jewish parliament reached out its arm out in peace, asking that the 2-state solution be accepted. That Arab invasion which crushed that Jewish hope and created the refugee problem was a poor decision. But it was an Arab decision.

Whatever the palestinians have suffered, they have brought upon themselves. 1. They chose to join the war against Israel instead of building a country of their own in 1948. 2. Recently they democratically elected a gouvernment lead by Hamas, an ally of Iran and Hizballa, who has the firing of rockets into Israel as their main way of communicating with its neighbor. Whatever they suffer, they bring upon themselves. It would be good if some Arab leaders could talk to the palestinian voters on this matter, i.e. that this self-destructing behaviour is not only harming the ordinary palestinian woman, man, and child on a daily basis but it is also standing in the way of their own progress, and prosperity as individuals and as society. The palestinians have always had their fate in their own hands: War and destruction or Peace and prosperity. Time to wake up.

Indeed, Mr levy touches on a very sensitive subject. In the Arab world there is still much denial of the Holocaust. From California, I'm working with some Israeli colleagues to raise awareness to this in Arab countries. Indeed. (Thanks Olivia)

Did even his voters expect Netanyahu to be very tactful? If you listen to his supporters before the election, like my friend Absolute Sweden, there's a lot of cynism in their speech, rather than diligent concern or respect of the fragileness of life. Ok, in his case, it might be our nordic culture that's responsible for emotional undercooling... But the title given to the article in Haaretz' read-and-react-column "Netanyahu speech dishonors holocaust" is not very subtle either: as if there was anything honorific about the genocide. Clearly, "cheapening" is a better expression.

So as far as you are concerned using the undoubted suffering of the European Jews during the Holocaust, is acceptable, and that any discussion about whether the use of the Holocaust for short term political gain by the Israeli government, thus allowing critics of Israel to use the Holocaust, where millions of European Jews were murdered because and only because of their religion, is unacceptable. Regardless if the people doing the complaining, are like me a former Jew whose parents still practice, an Israeli living in Israel, or a survivor of the camps, who has been publically and shockingly subjected to a diatribe by a fellow American on this very thread? Because Netanyahu, criminally used the Holocaust for political gain, and made it easier for the deniers to reject the holocaust as a mechanism used by Middle Eastern jews to garner support for the policies of Israel. But you won't get it, which is OK, but I assure you using the Holocaust in this way reduces it's reasonance

following up Netanyahu's speech where he criminally used the memory of the Holocaust for short term political gain, and calling those who reject this link as niave. The point is, with the Goldstone report and International clamour for a two state solution as part of the war against Al Qaeda Netanyahu needed something to deflect away from criticism of Israel. Raiding Yad Vashem for historical documents was one way of doing it. Netanyahu by invoking the murder of 6 million European Jews as justification for recent actions by Israel shows just how criminal the state Israel has become. Unable to justify it's actions, it declares it is acting in the name of 6 million dead europeans and if anyone points out the idiocy of Netanyahu's actions in cheapening the lessons of the Holocaust we are terrorist supporters. Well I don't support terror, and am on record more than once with rejecting the use of the Holocaust it's language and it's symbols for political gain.

Netanyahu did his theatric propaganda stick as if he was talking to a bunch of idiots instead of UN delegates - who are (usually) smart and astute diplomats.

... by using it to embelish rhetoric... ... by using it to kosher nefarious deeds, such as depriving 'conquered' neighbors of land and property...

What the most people saw on live-TV last December-January left a much stronger imprint on their minds and consciences than the documents that Netanyahu waved in the air. I don't want to lessen what happened to the 6 million Jews during the holocaust but what Israel has been doing to the Palestinians is not any less horrible; the only difference is in the number of victims involved. Someone should wave the old maps of Palestine showing the 420 villages that Israel destroyed to wipe out traces of the Palestinians.

It doesn't fit the occasion. Israel must survive not only because of the Jewish past but because of the realities on the ground today. No Arab country is at peace with itself or with any of its neighbors. 2-State is not a solution because the Palestinians are not ready to have a stable (viable) state. Their fighting among themselves is a clear example. 2-State can only enlarge the field battle and more killing; a much larger picture of what it happened all these years. Is that what the world's community wants ? Nethanyahu's was right when he crossed the Ts and dotted the Is & made it clear what Israel wants & needs for the very security of the area. Israel needs a stable country with its historic Capital & that is alone can bring security in the Miseast. Israel's security is the only road for peace in the Mideast. And unless the Arab-Pals can understand that,they themselves exposing their countries to 'no security'. The solution is to solve the Palestinian's problem.

And surely we will see a total disdain for the Bibi's empty words,for his proofs of Holocaust reality,for he tales of 8 thousands "rockets" an other holy number,on how Israel got out from Gaza (and only put the Gazans to starvation (no to starvation but to diet),to lack of medecine,of oil of anything and here he forgot to say that he opposed this even this "generous" step made by Israel and he didn't tell how Israel killed some militants who were too close to the wall (you know they intended...)and how Israel killed others too close to a window or too close to anything.But all the Israeli's media is totally servant for any government and the result is a brainwashed reactionery population which make impossible a peace.Bibi is the natural representative of this mob-the asafsuf-together with his allies Lieberman and the rest.

I don't know any Arabs that spend all day thinking ot talking about killing Jews so get that ridiculous thought out of your head and stop playing games with your own mind; as Enrico reminded you of Burg's words here, the holocaust is over and you must rise from its ashes. Arabs as a rule don't think that the Jews are at the center of the universe and don't seek to destroy Israel but like the Norwegians, the Swedes and many others, they are distressed with what Israel is doing to the Palestinians. Until you stop wallowing in self-pity and waving the holocaust flag, you can't understand what I'm trying to make you understand. It's not the existence of Israel that is the problem for the Arabs since 90% of Arab states are already doing business with it, but the ongoing oppression of the Palestinians.

Bibi made a historic speech at the UN, it will be remembered by many. In regards to the Holocaust his comments were very well balanced and in the light of Iranian threat, which he talked about afterwards were straight to the point.

hamas thought they will read some notes on that podium on the eve of Christmas of 2008, unfortunately ( for you ) their proof fallen short. You do realise what stands between the man who "wants" to read notes on the podium and the man who actually "reads" notes. In the past 2000 years only Георгий Константинович Жуков covered the distance... blessed is the creator his memory.

the cherished memory of the millions of Jews killed. Whenever questioned, it is our responsibility as Jews to defend the truth to what really took place not only in Germany, but throughout the ages of Jewish history. We must continue to do so for our children?s sake. Not to do so would also be a great injustice to those who perished refusing to be forced to accept any other way of life. It is you and others like you, who clearly put an ideological agenda ahead of the Jewish heart, and the Jewish soul, and try to justify it through some perverted moral equivalency thesis. I am proud of Netanyahu for defending the memory of my family and for defending Israel.

Did you read about powerful Jewish lobbies working overtime to defeat a bill in congress to recognize the Armenian genocide. maybee you missed it when The president of Israel actually appologized to Erdogen of Turkey saying the position of Israel has not changed we do not regard what happend as genocide. Rmember when Foxman of the ADL fired the New England regonal director and he was forced to aknowledge the genocie when cities dropped out of his program no place for hate Perez is as high up an official as you get .

Simply google. never again means for everyone. muzzle watch

How dare Mr. Levy insult one of the most moving, powerful speeches I've ever heard. I'm guessing he's 23 years old and has no sense of history except for "hear say." godammit...what does anyone expect us to do? Mr. Netanyahu laid it on the line and had every right to compare Hitler to Ahmadenijad. He's spreading the same lies as Hitler's! Netanyahu needs to face all of the holocaust denials that are happening NOW. How are you going to talk about that without mentioning the Nazis? If people are starting to doubt the Holocaust now, what will it be like when there are no survivors/witnesses left? If people doubt the Jewish people's sincerity, especially after that speech, then there really is no hope for mankind.

simply google. never again means for everyone. muzzle watch

experience for the reason you stated...That's right, people like you always like to discount the Gypsies. Sort of ruins the uniqueness of your narrative. BTW, the gypsies are still the most maligned people in Europe. You lose again.

Revealing article:::::::::::::: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204488304574427312061008166.html

" Holocaust was used last night by Netanyahu, not to show a historical slight and injustice against the Jewish people. It was used by Netanyahu to deflect any criticism of Israel. And that is criminal".. Wrong as usual Chris. What Bibi was doing was simply reminding the world what happens when evil or tyranny is not confronted before it reeks murder. Showing the blue prints of Aushwitz was intended to strike a strong reality check with those listening to him. While I am not a big fan of Bibi I thought this was one of his best speeches. Those such as yourself who stupidly state it was exploitation or used to deflect any criticsm against Israel are simply stating a personal opinion and a fact. Bottom line is the world better take heed of Islamic fanatics such as the Iranian leader. Its quite scary how many naive and disillusioned inviduals such as yourself are in this world.

Netanyhu produced an incredibly lucid speech at the UN. Even if it doesn't stand-up to Gideon Levy's standards. Especially compared to the bozo rants of Gadhafi or Chavez. The world community got a good glimpse of the sane and the psychotic....it became transparently clear. Gadhafi is simply not mentally stable. Chavez on the other hand, is over-stuffed with his own grandeur. But the little midget Ahmad.... proved to the world what are the consequences of dreaming for a religious prophecy. How one can be drunk with Koranic scripture to the point of fanaticism. Auspiciously the world, including Russia and China must decide whether Ahmadinejad's divine yearning for the 12th Imam.... is a world they want to live in.

Clearly she is not a geo-politically aware woman. Also, from the wording of her comment, I'll bet you a million Euros that she also supports Sarah Palin, another propagandist who plays VERY loose with the facts.

GOD BLESS ALL THE JEWISH PEOPLE GOD BLESS BENJAMIN NETANYAHOU AND MAY GOD OPEN YOUR MIND TO THE REAL MIDDLE EAST

Levy is a clear-thinking grown-up who cares deeply about Israel and its people. He's right to find fault in Bibi's silly speech. Bibi came off like a grandstanding clown from a banana republic. Intelligent Jews are ashamed.

Dear Anne My Prime Minister's speech was directed at the lack of care by the U.N representatives throughout decades by ignoring the crux of the matter.Therefore MY PRIME MINISTER addressed it not only the delegates but primarily to Iran's Ahmedinejad who has questioned the history of the "HOLOCAUST". To you it is an "INDUSTRY"?Wrong!We will continue to remind the world at large till ETERNITY.Hear,and hear me well Anne. The tragedy of the HOLOCAUST is unique and will never to be forgotten It will be continued reminding THE WORLD hear me Anne,and do not call it an INDUSTRY shame on you if you are a real Jew/Israeli With best wishes FROM AN ISRAELI WHO LOVES HIS COUNTRY.

I was proud to have Bibi giving it and it was was a slap in the face of Anti-semites... Take that to the bank... Can not argue with the truth...

Who cares and has done beautifully against all odds. I him with all my heart.Take no notice of Gideon Levy.Why? Because while my Prime Minister rules Israel,Gideon Levy?A mere-- Pen pusher.Now Michael Dar,who is the more important of the two? You do not need a reply I am sure.For you know the answer to that don't you my dear fellow. I cherished each and every word written in your response that lifted my heart up. FROM AN ISRAELI POSTER WHO LOVES HIS COUNTRY.

"make hay with the memory of the holocaust. Netanyahu and others that keep trotting out the holocaust at every opportunity are doing a disservice to the memory of the millions that perished " Gee, Walid, I know the Pals would like to take over the exclusive use of the word "holcaust" just like they'd like to take over everything else that is Jewish, starting with Jerusalem. Actually, the Pals and other Arab fellow travelers love to use the word "holocaust" to describe the deaths of a few Palestinian Arab terrorists killed in defensive actions in Gaza and other hotbeds of enmity. The holocaust for the Jews means the death of 6 million non-terrorist innocent people just trying to live their daily lives.

When a politician lacks imagination, and the government is getting its nose bloodied by revelations of its many war crimes, whip out the Nazi holocaust like a trump card. When the sole superpower is pushing for Israeli territorial compromise as part of a peace treaty and it is becoming more and more embarrasing to attempt to sabotage the peace effort, whip out the holocaust as proof that you are the good guy. The Jewish suffering that the holocaust represents is used as needed to deflect attention from major war crimes and from the Israeli government's attempts to avoid major territorial concessions.

That argument would be fine if Jews were are race of people, but you are not. Zionism is a political offshoot of Judaism which is a religion. As for the UN dividing the land between the Jews and the Palestinians, well thats not going too well at all is it? There is plenty of room left in Israel to accomodate settlers and no need for continued building. You must share the land as you have stated...evenly between your religious lot and the Palestinians who have been living there for many generations. We must act in todays world, what happened 2000yrs ago has nothing to do with this century and the huge problems the planet is facing. Hamas and the PA have beoth said they will accept '67 line as border...what more does Israel want? And when will iut recognise the need for Palestinian security and right to life?

Gideon you are an idiot. Of course the holocaust needs proof. Didn't you yet understand how antisemitism works? Oh, of course you didn't, you proove in all your articles that you are blind to it. It works by telling the same lies over and over again. Now this is what Ahmadinejad does if he denies the Holocaust. And yes there are plenty of people around the world, who already believe it, And there number is increasing. Countering those lies by telling the truth won't be enough, but Netanyahu has hardly better options. Why shoudln't one compare Hamas to the Nazis. Sure they can't work with the same effectivity, but their aim isn't different at all. They admit it on a daily basis. Same thing concerning the comparison of Blitz and the Qassam rockets. There is no difference in the aim. Now in every modern code of crimianl law its the aim which is more important not the result, for good reason.

The holocaust cannot have the same meaning to a jew-hater like you that it does to a Jew. To you, the holocaust means the deaths of any/all people killed during W.W.II. To Jews, it describes the concerted effort to eradicate the world of one people (Jews), and the very nearly successful outcome of that effort. To you, it's just one chapter in world history, not much different from previous or subsequent chapters. To us (Jews), it is personal. Your charge that Netanyahu "used" the holocaust to "deflect any criticism of Israel" is baseless. Jews are presently faced with another Hitler (Ahmedinejad) who publicly and repeatedly calls for Israel (Jews) to be wiped off the map. Youd deflection of that issue, in favor of some tired old (and obviousle disingenuous) fixation on the West Bank occupation is disgraceful. You come here with your Jew-hatred every day, pathetically attempting to hide behind some absurdly incredible veil of having Jewish friends and family. THAT is "criminal".

Sorry...skull cap or no..God Jehovah DID sovereignly give that land to our Father Abraham. Even the Gentiles know this!

Your post is as clear eyed as ever!!!!! No equivocations there, nope, not even a teeny weeny euphemism (LOL). Good reading!!! Where have you been? World sure is moving fast, ole buddy!!! High regards.

You should know by now that you opine a lost cause. Except she is not in Israel. Just a dual citizen whiner. Regards.

oh mi mi neten yahoo, cam accreoss as an idiot and propaganda man, not honest nor sincere, nor convincing. Thinking people are dummies

"It is people like you that are Israel`s largest PR problem." It's people like you who are not credible to determine who is good for and who is bad for Israel. You're so bloody anti-Israeli, that you pretend to look out for Israel's interest -- is another demonstration of your complete lack of integrity.

``Israel denies the Armenian Genocide`` (Written by Our Ben) Really, Here are some quotations that refract your accusations about ``Israel denies the Armenian Genocide`` Yona Metzger (1953-) : Israel`s Ashkenazi chief rabbi (2003-).. The Jewish religious community recognizes the fact of the genocide, and, together with the Armenian people, grieves for the innocent victims [?] Of course, I use the term? genocide. All the pictures and documents we have seen at the Genocide Museum prove that. (November 22, 2005). *** *** *** Yossi SARID, Minister of Education of Israel (1993-2003). Today in Israel, very few youngsters have heard about Musa Dagh, very few know about the Armenian Genocide. I know how important the position of the Jews, and especially the attitude of the State of Israel to your genocide, are for Armenians in the world. As Minister of Education of the State of Israel, I will do whatever is in my capacity in order that this monumental work The Forty Days of Musa Dagh is once more well known to our children. I will do everything in order that Israeli children learn and know about the Armenian Genocide. (April 24, 2000). O *** *** *** Yossi BEILIN (1948-), Foreign Minister (1992-1995) Knesset : April 27, 1994, in answer to the claims of the Turkish Ambassador, It was not war. It was most certainly massacre and genocide, something the world must remember... We will always reject any attempt to erase its record, even for some political advantage. (April 27, 1994) *** *** *** I would not be surprised if Israel is the only country in the world how teaches about the Armenian Genocide in University! Prove me wrong!

Please come and offer your opinions on CNN and elsewhere. Your one of the few that sounds reasonable and knowledgeable on the facts on the ground.

ONLY WANT PRAISES SHOWERED ON GIDEON,AND NOT TO MY BRIGHT PRIME MINISTER WHO WAS ECXCELLENT HIS SPEECH AT THE U.N GIDEON IS JUST JEALOUS. KUDOS TO BIBI...

Levy: You should apply for a job on Obama's czar list ! Rich L

Gideon needs to go back to school.

two differing opinions to Gideon's article. Those who object to the Holocaust for political purposes (which is my opinion) and those who see nothing wrong with using the Holocaust for short term political gain. Those who agree with me praise Gideon, those who are supporters of Bibi Netanyahu vilify and accuse Gideon of betrayal of the Jewish cause. And here is the rub. There is a difference between Judaism like what my parents practice, my German teacher (a survivor of Auschwitz) and my friends practice, and Zionism which is what Netanyahu practices. The true legacy of the Holocaust is for us to ensure it does not happen to any people ever again whether they are Jewish, Cambodian, Rwandan or Kurdish or even Christians in the Sudan. The Holocaust was used last night by Netanyahu, not to show a historical slight and injustice against the Jewish people. It was used by Netanyahu to deflect any criticism of Israel. And that is criminal

...you with your "arabists" and other insulting language are a sad representative of a so-called Israel "supporter." It is people like you that are Israel's largest PR problem.

and not only do the zionists exploit it NOW, but they exploited it THEN! zionists capitalized on hitler's persecution of the jews as a means of populating israel...in many cases to the point of collaborating with the nazis. zionism is a nationalist movement, many of whose founders were atheist, and to which religion is incidental to ethnic background. with 6 million jews murdered for their religious heritage, and an almost equal number of others for their ethnic backgrounds and various other reasons; the holocaust was, and will probably always be, the most sinister and despicable crime perpetuated by man against his fellow man... and your dam right zionists dishonor the memory of its victims when it's so frequently used to deflect criticism of israel's actions; especially when SOME of those actions are reminiscent of the persecutions suffered by jews during the prelude to the holocaust.

The more and more you watch them, the more that these speeches are nothing more they become flaming frustrations in a pool hall. I agree with Gideon Levy.Netanyahu should stick with current issues and forget about his sandbox fight with Ahmadinejad. We all know Ahmadinejad denies The Holocaust, and if anybody at the UN wants to learn more about the Holocaust, they can simply visit a museum that devoted to the subject. All Netanyahu had to do is ignore the Iranian crybaby, and get back to the real issues of The Middle East. Keep the UN speeches short, stick to the issues, and make your point.

Mr. Levy, you are a journalist and you are doing your job. Good or bad, I am not judging. The PM is not a journalist but a politician. And as politician he is as good as you as a journalist. I hope for you you evaluate yourself as a good one.

Dear Editor, I was beyond ashamed to read Mr. Levy's offensive tirade against Prime Minister's Netanyahu speech to the U.N. It is terribly sad that an Israeli journalist sits so far to the left that he has fallen off the face of the earth into a liberal black hole that sadly, has engulfed most of the world. Thank G-d that Israel has a strong Prime Minister that will stand up to the world's lost moral compass which is particularly egregious at the U.N. I suggest that Mr. Levy spends his next holiday in Eastern Europe touring the remanants of the concentration camps. It's time for an emergecy brush up course that hopefully, will offer him much-needed perspective. Elizabeth Much

"He wrote in 2000: " is so the Some exploit the memory of Holocaust as an "ideologigal weapon"." The irony? Finkelstein exploits the Holocaust himself. He writes about it, he denigrates others about it -- he sells his books about it. How does Finkelstein make most of his money? Exploiting the Holocaust.

Living in Israel for 32 years, I have never liked Bibi and always found him to be a demagogue. But his speech at the UN was inspiring. Yes, shame on all of those who stayed to listen to Ahmadinejad's rantings and ravings and have lost all sense of moral clarity. Shame on the UN for its one-sided, knee-jerk condemnations of Israel over the years. As Netanyahu said, at the UN you can get a majority to believe the world is flat. Gideon Levy is wrong when he says Bibi cheapens the Holocaust by feeling the need to prove to the world that it took place . Sadly, the truth of the Holocaust must be stated and proven over and over again to all those who are either ignorant enough or hostile enough to believe the Big Lie that there was no Holocaust. Never overestimate what people know or underestimate people's capacity to believe lies. As an Israeli, I was very proud listening to Bibi's speech yesterday. He said many things that needed to be said.

As a child of the Holocaust myself I totally disagree with you and further more I cannot fathom the idiocy of your post.If you believe the drivel of the arabists and islamic jihadists and leftists that support the lie that Israel uses the Holocaust as an excuse to "occupy" the palestinians you are drinking more than cool aid. Before the Holocaust and during the Holocaust the arabs were helping the nazi's and rooting them on in their quest to destroy the Jews. After the Holocaust,in '48,the arabs tried to finish off what the nazi's could not accomplish. And you support this drivel...I will not challenge your words that you are a child of the holocaust because I do not know you but if you are what you say shame on you.... you are carrying the water for people who want your people destroyed and the sad part is you are to deluded to even know that you are a useful idiot.

The waving of the documents was for dramatic effect and totally Appropriate. Everyone is saying that the Jews weren't the only ones to die during WWII...that is true and it was horrible for everyone. But they were the only people who were targeted to be exterminated. And they were the only people who's survivors didn't have a country or property to go back to at the end (those poor Poles were quick to grab it up for themselves, for instance). And it was because of the events of that war that the UN and Israel were ultimately created, which same UN is now only 60 years later ironically used as a platform for the new version of Jew-hating. So Bibi's speech was PERFECT - he called out the member nations that have obviously forgotten what the UN and the creation of Israel was supposed to be about. A speedy flight back to the IAF pilots who should, and G-d willing will, end Iran's project!

The Holocaust was the manifestation of an idea that was neither original nor unprecedented. The idea was to completely annihilate the Jewish people, and this time it was done with astounding success. Israel has never used the Holocaust as an excuse to occupy and oppress anyone. If anything, the Holocaust can only represent the crucial necessity to take very seriously those who threaten her demise. And threats to Israel and the Jewish people resound to date. As for the politics of the region, they are complicated and intricate and beyond your ability to understand. By the way, you are not ?a child of the Holocaust?, you are a child born of either both or one parent during the Holocaust, or who survived it.

You're comments are completely unwarranted. They reflecta gross unerappreciation for one of the mot powerful and well articulated addresses ever by an Israeli PM. Bibi did not cheapen the holocaust by presenting the original documents as proof that it happened. You just take it for granted that we know it took place, and so the rest of the world should have to accept that it did too. Well maybe those in the international community who were slightly unsure of themselves, had their doubts confirmed when Bibi pulled out the plans for the holocaust, and proved to them without any doubt that it did happen. Maybe to you the need for proof on paper weakens the holocaust, but not to those who needed that proof. Please read the PM's words again, and watch the videos of his address, and realize the truth in his words, and the positive impression he left on the international community. I trust that you will agree.

What you say is largely incorrect. The physically and mentally disabled were sterilized - it was not the official policy to exterminate them, as it was with the Jews. I'm not saying the former is not evil, I'm just saying that the criminalization of "existence" is different from the criminalization of "having children". Regarding the Gypsies, you are correct, and pardon my omission - but I was responding to a post whose explicit aim was not to pair the Gypsies' loss of 250,000 with the Jews' loss of 6,000,000, but rather to draw a moral equivalence between the deaths of 10s of millions of others with the industrialized extermination that made the Holocaust a unique event in history.

..self proclaimed guardian of our national conscience and morality. Levy is again trying by his regular narrow minded intellectual acrobatics to discredit whatever doesn't match his own "progressive" thinking! What Natanyahu meant to say with his graphic comparison is that what animates Hamas is exactly the same ideology vs. Israel as the one of the Nazis regarding the Jews. They both want us dead! Had Hamas the same military might as the Nazis had we would simply experience another Holocaust. You too, as the Arabs do, seem to being upset that we have a country of our own again and are able..this time to defend ourselves. Wake up to reality, Levy, stop undermining our national, historic, legal and moral rights. With your un loyal behaviour, you would not last for a minute in any Arab country of your choice!

My admiration and gratitude go to you for your excellent and courageous article.- It reminded me of the title of Avraham Burgs inspiring book "The Holocaust Is Over, We Must Rise From Its Ashes".-

Bibi's speech was pretty cringe-making from beginning to end. He had an opportunity to say something relevant about Palestine and to demonstrate vision and intellect. Instead, we got the usual spiel from the right - attack Iran, attack Hamas, attack the UN, attack the Goldstone conclusions, attack all our perceived enemies. And of course a bit of the old bibiical rights of Jews to sign off with. You can get all that daily in Haaretz, no need to bore the rest of the world with Likud's take on the unfairness of modern life. There was a valid reason to raise the holocaust, but that wasn't at all the way to do it. Sderot is definitely NOT analogous to London in the blitz. And lecturing the UN about its inadequacies, from the country that has ignored more UN resolutions than any other, is downright cupidity. Still, the home rightist audience loved it. Just a pity that it was SO predictable, hackneyed and evasive for everyone else. He really doesn't deliver very well, does he?

Mr. Levy sees only in black and white. But you must argue with the deniers and prove them wrong, since they deny it by argument, even though it is only 60 years away. What do you mean by cheapening the Holocaust? Yours is the cheapest peace of leftist biased journalism I have ever read. Why, then? Too proud to argue. Kol Akavod to Netanyahu for answering so powerfully!

Gideon Levy statements about Netanyahu's speech, is a reaction of frustration and disappointment at his admirer and friend Ahmadinejad for having denied, something so real : the existence of the Holocaust...and Mr. Levy now is trying, obviously, to show all of that reation of disappointment by discrediting Mr. Netanyahu's speech. One has always the right to like or dislike a speech...in this case the only thing that counts is that the Holocaust did happen, without any doubt, even if someone didn't like Netanyahu's words....on the contrary, the Iranian side is and will always be on the wrong side by denying it, as simple. All of those who know very well Mr. Levy's comments & articles would not expect anything other than this type of comments, any doubt ?

waving the minutes of the Wannseeconference. Had he read those minutes aloud, everybody would have fallen asleep because of the ice cold beaurocratic language. There is not a word in that document that even comes close to discribing the goal of the indrustrialized murder of all Jews of Europe. The text speaks mainly of the transport into "Auffanglager" for the "resettlement" of the Jews outside the "Reich". We all know what happened. The Wannsee Konferenz Minutes is one of the most chilling documents that everyone should read. Waving it though at the UN will not change the opinion of one single Holocaust denier of which, I am sad to say, still quite a few exist in my former country.

Mr. Levy, is this a news article or your opinion ??? Your opinion STINKS. Where do you lefty Jews come from? Are you all self-hating? Do you ever have a positive , non-destructive comment to say about Israel?? Why do you live in Israel if you think only the Moslems and Palestinians are right and good? When will you change and when will you be a PROUD JEW ????????

If a bomb falls on a building, wheater its primitive or not, it will kill the people in that building. If a very sofisticated weapon is thrown from a army base, we can attack the army base, but when a primitive weapon is thrown from a school or a hospital what can be done at that point should we bomb the school?

He could have been a better salesman. Is he doomed to be a failure?

...I am horrified at the exploitation of that terrible era by Israel itself. Using the Holocaust as an excuse to occupy and oppress others is a crime that causes so many to doubt the Holocaust itself, or even justify its goals. This has to stop. Israel has the weapons, the power and the political clout to do as it pleases.. it has nuclear weapons and wants exclusive rights over them in the region, but most of all, it wants a Greater Israel in which Arabs no longer exist. This shames us all.

I am still researching the number of Jews killed: for sure it was 6 million which were 2/3 or 3/4 of Nazi occupied land or of the world? For those who lived in or had relatives in Poland it was 90% as well as 90% in Baltic countries, 65% of occupied Ukraine. Maybe those in Poland suffered the greatest loss, where some of my family came from. Maybe Bibi needs a better speechwriter to help people understand how bad it was under the NAZIS who planned the extermination of the Jews only for being Jewish. People in tolerant lands may have had it better; but those under Nazism did not. The issue is that we do not need more antisemites to wipe out the Jews; we need more tolerance in Iran and in the Middle East.

... for saying what I, and I'm sure many others, were thinking as they listening to the warmongering from Israel's prime minister. My disgust with Netanyahu's manipulation of the Holocaust for cheap propaganda actually eclipsed my disgust with Ahmadinejad's demagogic "doubts."

great speech, no disrespect to the holocaust survivors what so ever. The documents were a great prop to use as they showed the truth in black and white. Bibi was great throughout and i was moved by the speech because its nice to hear the truth from a world leader for once. The jewish/israeli narrative must be expressed to the world as bibi said he wants to know from the nations of the world who is for Israel and who is for terrorism.

Mr. Levy, do you miss the point or intentionally obscure it to misdirect? Hamas does not have the strength on its own to threaten our existence - today. But as you very well know,Hamas and Hezbolla are agents of Iran; Iran - as we all know - is steadily arming itself for our destruction.

I am shocked no one is going through Netanyahu's speech for mistakes. I asked Yad Vashem for the numbers killed. I was taught and researched that it was 3/4 of the Jews 6 out of 8 million. Netanyahu will be quoted as an authority and his number of 1/3 is lower than the number killed. This will make him the second holocaust denier to address the UN, after Ahmadinejad.

"Cheapened the holocaust"? "Dishonored the holocaust"? I think what Levy means to say is Netanyahu cheapened or dishonored himself and his leadership by forgoing the opportunity to give a speech based on the powerful principle that resolution occurs by fostering the positive. Certainly, more was required from him than a merely statistical grasp of the facts. The Holocaust, however, is immutable and no human being can outmaneuver its infinite truth. It is not subject nor has any context for descriptive words such as ?cheapened? or ?dishonored?. Those terms can only be applied to ourselves.

His speech was great!

The more I think about your thesis, the more dismayed I get. There is a kernel of a point that you make. But the environment in which the evidence was pushed into the face of deniers, was perfectly appropriate. Numerous national representatives at the U.N. who tow their countries political lines are well educated. Its awafully useful to make them feel foolish, fraudulent and part of the conspiracy of evil and delusion. I'm afraid, Gideon, that you are doing your part for that conspiracy.

Norman Finkelstein, a jewish American political scientist ( who is denied to entry to Israel based on security reason!), a son of two Holocaust survivors.His mother survived the Warsaw Ghetto, and fatrher was a survivor of botht Warsaw and Auschwiz. He wrote in 2000: " is so the Some exploit the memory of Holocaust as an "ideologigal weapon". This is so the state of Israel, one of the world's most formifdable military powers, with a horrendous human rights record(can) cast itself as a victim state in order to garner immunity to criticism". Of course - lots of controversy and also deliberate misunderstanding, praice and criticism... There will be the documentary film planned for 2009 about the life and career of him.

"In the not too distant future a Palestinian will stand on the podium probably at the U.N. with notes drafted during Operation Cast Lead, Will the world believe them?2 This thought struck me as well! It is pathetic watching both Netanyahu and Ahmadinejad. They are both accusing others of exactly the same things as they themselves are doing. Ridiculous and nauseating!

absolutely right Gideon. What Prime Minister have done it is one of his endless mistakes. But, everything has its purpose, and the purpose is to manipulate any single reality in order to have a temorized population. When you read the capital letters of all the Israel news today you confirm my opinion. Prime Minister has to dishonor the UN and he put all his energy on this. Israel has to keep feeling europeans are enemies, or at least potential enemies. So, what more important that to say, UN denies the Holocaust?

Bibi rose to the occasion, and his words were appropriate.

It seems like Ahmadinejad is fed from lies and deceits, hence Netanyahu showed him the light. Of course Netanyahu doesn't need those proofs. Saying that is either blind stupidity or evil demagoguery.

Netenyahoo attendend the 60th anaversary of the bombing of the King David Hotel. Way to take a stand against terrorism Bibi

he has in keeping his government unified. He was unable to say anything constructive, so he raided Yad vashem and started waving irrelevant papers pertaining to the two state solution about. It really is sad to see the Prime Minister of a once proud country descend to this level.

targeted for extermination, unlike none of the other victims of that war; capish?

At least someone has the cojones to tell the UN what they stand for.8 years of terror without one resolution.Mastered majority. Just look who have a seat in the UNSC,or in the UNHRC.How many of the UNGA members respect human rights.How many of them are democracy. It is absurd hearing a permanent member of the UNSC talk of occupation.China?Russia?. Even a clown like Gahdafi think the UN is a circus,but the clowns in this circus are dengerouse clowns,they have armies.

The reason for Bibi talking of the holocaust Levy.As you remember when Ahmadinejad hold his speech,only half of the delegates walked out. The other half,the one that stayed,it was for them Levy,for the supporters of the denier. You cannot convince them,that i know.But you can humiliate them,and that what Bibi did.

Thinking about the target audience of the speech, it seemed to be the home front and their support base abroad, not those outsiders who refuse to be educated on principle. He needs to keep his coalition together while he bows as little and as slowly as he possibly can to the inevitable. The Auschwitz paper was a parody on Qaddhafi's UN charter booklet and the holocaust soliloquy was a parody on Ahmadinejad's. The container it came in was the spacious, timeworn but still hardy one made of superior morals and being at the forefront of development and culture. It was a very well-crafted presentation calculated to keep the sheep from straying.

SO DID THE FREE WORLD.

i am always proud to be a Jew. but never more than when our PM ,Bebe, made that powerful and moving speech yesterday in the useless un. perhaps showing the documents from nazi germany was a result to iran's moronic president and his lies.

I just saw a very well made document of the antisemitism made by Israeli journalist (in France). He interviewed the far rightest ones,the members of ADL orgnisation, those are considered to be "lefitists", the young ones who visited Auswitch in Poland...It seems that it is rather small amount of jewish people who see the chosts of antisemitism everywhere and everyhting, and who always compare the things with the Holocaust. Still, by getting stucked to this horrible era does not bring anything forward -on the contary.Doing so people cannot look for the future with open mind.By the way. Asking one of those young ones visiting Poland, what the girl thinks of all after seeing the camp. She said:"I want to kill them all". Journalist:"Who"? The girl:"The Nazis". J:"They are dead alredy". The girl:"But they have their children, or?" Very,very sad...

People have simply been numbed (where they have not been dumbed) down by leaders and the media, the latter their sole source of information and itself hampered by the exigencies of censorship during periods of military activity. Where a country's educational system suppresses the presentation of uncomfortable political questions, zombieism is bound to result.

I do not understand why you need to be inaccurate about the Holocaust in order to have it seem important. In point of fact it was not only the Jews whose very existence was criminalized, whom the Nazis searched for in the most obscure Greek islands just to put them in gas chambers. The first group whose existence was criminalized were the congentially physically and mentally disabled. (That alone would have wiped out 2 lines in my family if they'd been there.) Later, gypsies, gays, and Jews were hunted down. And you can be sure there would have been another group later.

I couldn't help but laugh. You'd think Bibi could have come up with something more original instead of plagiarizing Welch's quote from the Army-McCarthy hearing.

Gideon Levy as usual knows only to criticize and regretfully has not understand that this speech was excellent and defended all Israel and its future except those who are promoting the downfall of our Jewish State. Shame on Mr. Levy and Haaretz.

I thought two things. Ahmdinijads constant attacks on the veracity of what we are taught about the Holocaust must have something in it as Netanyahu sounded a bit desperate, waving a yellowing bit of paper in the air. The fact the Holocaust has happened is not in doubt the evidence speaks for itself. Why did Netanyahu have to raid Yad Vashem for documents to prove a political point? That Israel does not have any defence against what occured during Cast Lead so is fighting one allegation with another and by doing so weakening the memory of the Holocaust by making it a tool for making political points. I have said it once and I'll say it again the Holocaust was unique in it's awfulness. It's memory, language used and images and symbols must remain sacrosanct if we wish to remember the 6 million Jews plus others with honour and dignity. The fact Netanyahu did this proves he does not care about the long term memory of the Holocaust only his short term Prime Ministership.

I am not a fan of BiBi, but I can tell you that his speach was terrific. He held the UN to task and confronted their duality and anti-semitism. He showed Israel to be a willing partner for peace and gave them a history lesson. I say not bad at all. If you had a legal mind you would know that exhibits are a big part of a legal case. Holocaust denial(extreme violent anti-semitism) is on the rise around the globe.To learn first you need tools to teach. Evidence is not grandstanding or cheapening the history. Concrete proof is reality. It was a good lesson for the entire world.

Perhaps he is not aware that the rest of the world learns of Israel's oppressive treatment and bombing of Palestinian people, practically in real time, on TV and other media.

..and Ahmadinejad (Fool #2) must be laughing his head off. To my knowledge, the only person in the room who has ever questioned the holocaust was the Iranian president. Bibi ought to stop reacting everytime Ahmadinejad yanks his chain.

Yes, Javier! You are ultimately right! Jew's only real material right (put alone spiritual) for Land of Israel is ability of IDF to defend it from endless attacks of Arabs, definetely not any UN resolutions. As to Canaanites, Philistines, as well as others, whom those Canaanites expelled from there, well they could come now to, say, UN and clame their rights. So today, just like in the ancient past, or at date of proclaiming State of Israel, or any time in between, Israel's survival depends on IDF's strenght to withstand Iran's nulclear threat. That was the CORE POINT of Netaniyahu's speach, threat of mass dstruction chaos to whole world. This point, totally and desperately missing from ALL comments on this article. Point, blatantly ignored y Mr Levy, because HIS only point, keeping up with venered leftist Israeli press tradition, was to tar Netaniyahu at any cost. Mr Levy, be sure, Ahmadinejad won't spare You, he will nuke You too.

Michael No he Lives Comfortably in a House he claims to be Stolen from an Arab Palestinian in Gaza, and Swims in a Swimming Pool of another, yet he goes and preaches to others how they ``steal``, and they ``rob`` property, even if they originally paid for the property and the land ownership in 1882!

Michael No he Lives Comfortably in a House he claims to be Stolen from an Arab Palestinian in Gaza, and Swims in a Swimming Pool of another, yet he goes and preaches to others how they ``steal``, and they ``rob`` property, even if they originally paid for the property and the land ownership in 1882!

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Gideon in your article you over estimate the knowledge of the average global six pack as well as that of many Muslims. The Shoah is not taught in Gaza, is ignored and is twisted in spite of the fact the UNWRA should offer Shoah education. In Iran the president denies there was a shoah or that it was not so terrible. 30% of the Israeli Arabs apparantly are not sure if the Shoah indeed occured as described in Yad Hashem. A pity that Gideon considers the world public so informed. Was it not of the greatest importance never to forget?!? And to remind future generations of what happened. Gideon you should have known this. Iran just announced it has a secret unknown second centrifuge plant. How come that Iran can not be accused of indeed finishing the job Hitler intended? Iran was prepared to steel an unfair election from the winner beat to death, torture and rape the oppononts which were all muslims but Iran would not dare to murder Jews in Israel? Gideon we love you for your poison!!!

You and others were blinking at seeing what the military was doing to the Gazans. Those that didn't were the barracudas in the majority polled as having favoured the assault on the trapped civilians and no amount of writing by Levy would ever change their opinion. These people are today cheerleading for Netanyahu and would have undoubtedly agreed with his 1989 opinion that Israel should have used the opportunity to transfer out the Palestinians during the Tiananmen Square rebellion while the world's attention was focussed on it or his 2001 reaction to 911 that it was a good thing for Israel. This is the kind of man he is.

In the Holocaust 6 million Jews were killed, Jews were prevented medical treatment, did not have weapons to fight and did not threaten the German people who attacked them. They were attacked because they were Jews. By comparing their plight to that of those who enjoy all rights and suffer only when they attack, by comparing the Holocaust to those who attack Jews for being Jews, you are cheapening the memory of the Holocaust and you should be ashamed of yourself. I understand your need for publicity, but even that has to have a limit. As the say goes: stupidity is not an ideal one must aspire to

I watched Bibi's speech at UN from YouTube. Granted that some of the comparisons - like London Blitz and Qassam rockets - were not necessarily hsitorically as accurate as could be, just like Levy suggest. However in the context it made a lot of sense. I personally though have no doubt that Hamas would have hesitated usin As for waving Wanssee protocol and Auschwitz blue-print, I think Levy does not fully appreciate the target audience. I don't think that cheapended Holocaust at all. Is Yad Vashem cheapening the Holocaust by exhibiting proofs of the holocaust? One must not forget that there are many countries in the UN that are deeply affected by holocaust denial. And many certainly were following Bibi's speech through television or by YouTube. Bibi made a powerful point for them by holding in his hand documents. I hope for the day that we will see a just and lasting peace between Israel and palestinians.

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he is now a good leader but lacks the spirituality to fully understand the events of 70 years ago should not be talked about in front of outsiders.

that is untrue.

Marilyn, if I understand correctly, you feel proud of your grandfather's perpetuation of the British empire over the Middle East and cheer the same Arabs who slaughtered your grandfather's brethren from 1936-1939, who partnered with Vichy France in Lebanon, who kidnapped and murdered to ensure that the Brits would refuse every boat full of Jewish refugees from ever joining their brethren, farming, draining swamps, and building Palestine's infrastructure from zero. Better off sending them to their deaths for political expediency. Excellent moral clarity, truly excellent. The Jews weren't the only ones to die. But it was only the Jews whose very existence was criminalized, whom the Nazis searched for in the most obscure Greek islands just to put them in gas chambers. How is this confusing?

This is an excellent article. Enough with the Hasbara !

netanyahu should not have spoken of the events of the 1940s.

Once, when he brandished proof of the very existence of the Holocaust, as if it needed any, and again when he compared Hamas to the Nazis.

This guy - GideonLevy - should look into himself first - before lashing on others. He's clearly a kind of individual with strong psychology complex of deficiency, and consequently he turns to a promitive (and not-so-healing) tool: to hate others. No matter whom he balks on currently: Obama, Netanyahu, Brown, SarcoZy, his own wife, or his own housekeeper. The root is the same - he is well aware about nothingness of himself. Wait, we will yet see him trying to obtain wellware by trying to sneak to the Knesset. I just hope that he will fail in that endeavour as well.

Stooping to Ahmadinejad's level? Come on , nowhere near his level. Willl Mr A lives in fantasy Netanyahu was being factual, yes there is evidence of the holocaust, abundant evidence and the world can deny it but when you see it in your face you can not ignore it. It is not just Mr A that does this. It is cheapening the holocaust if you do not say something. I do not understand your logic.

They both said the same old extremist rubbish we've all heard before. Mind you, I suppose in both cases, they weren't really talking to the world. They were both talking almost exclusively to their own voters. Ahmedinejad the Holocaust denier and Netanyahu, the denier of Palestinian freedom, the denier of Cast Lead war crimes. Two ugly sides of the same unpleasant coin.

At long last an Israeli leader is declaring the truth from Zion as it is written will occur in the end of days .

Gideon: I was happy to read this extraordinary report. As a Jewish, I am proud of you and hope to see more journalists of your quality and integrity! You have a long and difficult job to do,Go ahead!

When one is engaged in throwing out a cake that has gone flat or bad, it's difficult to pick out the raisins... Shabbat shalom.

All a joke to him and he loves being on the stage and being outrageous. He is the most successful standup of our time. We should ignore his ravings.

... Levy's mission would still be to root out the abuse of power, in whatever guise...

Javier, of all the people who have ruled this land, the Jews were the last who also called it home, the last to maintain their capital here as opposed to being a foreign imperialist invader. Since the Roman's kicked us out 2000 years ago and until 1948 the land was simply passed from one empire to another. The Jews are historically the last indigenous self-ruling people to call Israel home. Even during later periods of Arab rule, the Palestinians were ruled from foreign capitals. The Jewish claim on Israel is not racial, it is cultural and historical. By any objective standards we were the last rightful owners of this land before a string of empires invaded and successively won and lost it. The last of these empires empowered the UN to decide what to do with it and the UN quite rightly decided to divide it between the Jews and Arabs living here. It is high time that the Arabs accepted this entirely fair solution as the Jews have from the start.

64 years after the Holocaust, with historical memories fading, the non-European world, particularly the Third World and the Muslim states, need the evidence for the Holocaust to be brandished in their faces. I imagine you, Gideon have heard of "the Big Lie". Tell a lie enough times in public and eventually it is believed. This is what Hitler's Nazi propaganda machine did in the 1930's and this is what Ahmadinijad and his cohorts are doing now.

... the UN 'paper-work' on the whole was a circus... ... first that Libyan weirdo appears throwing paper documents over his shoulder... ... then Bibi comes on with his own paper-act... ... nothing of that hallowed the Holocaust...

This was possibly Netanyahu's finest hour. Courageous and true. Kol Ha'kavod to Israel's leader (and I support Kadima!!!)

I strongly agree that Bibi stooped to his lowest depths by his "show and tell" of Holocaust documents. We need not show any proof that the Holocaust is a fact, and attempting to drive that point home again and again gives credit to the deniers. However, I would caution Gideon to avoid shooting from the hip and making proclamations that we are fighting "primitive terrorist organizations." When you are being shot at, it makes little difference whether the incoming rocket is a modern Katyusha or a primitive Qassam, and Hezballah has weaponry at its disposal that is far from primitive. Parts of Bibi's speech were certainly uncalled for, but Mr. Levy would be wise to tar it with a narrower brush.

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It might be infuriating to Israelis for anyone to compare IDF soldiers to Nazis, but Israel has created the circumstances in Gaza that invite that comparison for many, many of us in the rest of the world. Israel conducted a murderous assault on 1.5 million souls who were locked into a prison, a large concentration camp, according to the Vatican Minister of Justice and Peace; Israel's IDF drew Stars of David inside and outside Palestinian homes in Gaza, causing many, many of us to now equate that symbol with swaztikas and Confederate flags. It is Israel that is conducting ethnic cleansing of the West Bank and Gaza through starvation and abuse. Israelis should be embarrassed about their prime minister's performance. For all the money Israel pours into its propaganda war against the minds of Americans, it's amazing how they completely misread who we are. Israel and the US don't share the same values, which was made most apparent than by Netanyahu's weird performance.

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The aim was not to prove anything but to show the absurdity of the claims that the holocaust is a lie, and the true face of the UN. Gideon Levi: you became the clown of Israel Bashers.

How else can one feel after reading this diatribe of Gideon's...

The biggest threat to Israeli society is not Hamas, nor Hizbollah nor Iranian nukes but the stupidity of Netanyahu and the people who voted for him and share his world view.

your article was really on point. should be required reading for all the delusional, overly defensive, neurotic zionists that are dooming Israel's future.

Thanks for carefully picking up each of the points that any thinking person balked at during Netanyahu's carefully crafted and staged UN speech. Text messages to thousands to seek shelter elsewhere indeed! One day we will ask ourselves where our heads were (never mind our bleeding hearts) when we let this happen without blinking.

"Talk of security and victims may still have buyers among the WIZO women of America, but that's it. " Unfortunately it also has buyers among his electorate so many will have missed the fact that, although a less tedious orator than Qadhafi and Ahmadinejad, he actually predicated his whole speech on refuting their confections. Their speeches were crafted on the one hand to distract the public eye from what was happening in their own houses, so was Netanyahu's. The fact remains that at home, due to skilful manipulation, even the thinking public has bought the argument that an Arab at home is more dangerous to them than a mean street is abroad. What people like Netanyahu, by misusing his wife's "pedigree", have done not only to the memory of the people who lost their lives in it but also to the credibility of those of us with a similar "pedigree" is unforgivable. The holocaust is not a political tool it is an historical fact. Thus was the UN gathering dominated by the wrong subject.

It was embarrassing to see Bibi "selling" the Holocaust like the ultimate salesman on the UN podium.

The hollywood style grandstander. Flip the holocaust blueprints and maps to prove it did happen. Well it did happen and every one knows that. Over 50 million people died in that war, and mostly civilians. the Soviet Union lost 25 million mostly civilians. Poland lost over 6 million mostly civilians. And the Jews of Europe lost upwards of 6 millions all civilians. But that does not give Netanyahu the right to insist on stealing more of our land to expand on the "life" of the settlements when the Palestinians are denied protection for their lives, livelyhoods and land. Just like Qadhafi, Netanyahu is a prima dona, a drag queen of a different style - but a grandstander who will play on the emotion and psyche of his audience. He stoops and plays on the emotion of the same whores of North America and Europe whose 1000 year culture was the driving engine behind the perpetration of the holocaust. We are not going to foot the bill for this crime. Never.

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I do not deny the Holocaust any more than I deny the Armenian genocide, the massacres of millions Chinese civilians at the hands of the Japanese, the genocide of the Khmer Rouge, the Rwandan Genocide and many more. The question should be why does Iran?s President Ahmadinejad deny it? I believe the answer is that Israel uses the Holocaust as a justification of its continued occupation and settlement of the land it took in 1967. The Holocaust was wrong, but this does not make the occupation right. Rather than always seeing themselves as the victims, until Israel can see that the Palestinians have a genuine grievance, there will never be peace.

Point me to a single instance in history where a country's borders were not demarcated by descent and ethnicity, and maybe you'll have a point. Barring that though, we can all agree that you have no basis for objecting to the notion that the same standard should be applied to the Israeli-Arab conflict. "Race" of course is not a word used by anyone except the far left in describing the conflict, so we can set that aside as a fantasy you can pursue on your own time. Regarding historical claims, it would be sensible to compare the claim that the land should go back to the Phillistines as claiming that France should return to the Gauls, or that Scotland should return to the Picts. The Jews are the only remaining people with an ancestral claim to Israel, at least prior to the Arab invasion of the 7th century. I know that Arafat was known for claiming Palestinians descended from Jebusites, but there is zero historical basis for this claim.

In his haste to discredit Netanyahu's speech, Levy has stated the points he feels were superfluous, but also exaggerated in others. True, there is no reason to stoop to defensive pursuasive tactics trying to drive home the point that the Holocaust was real. We know it was, and the "show and tell" of documents was totally unnecessary. In this I agree with Gideon Levy. However, the statement about fighting "primitive terrorist organizations" is totally off the wall. I suggest Mr. Levy bring himself up to date on the sophisticated weaponry held by Hezballah in Lebanon that has been supplied by Iran. Far from primitive, and not to be written off with Levy's usual scorn. Learn to view the world in shades of gray and not just black and white, Mr. Levy. It will give your writing far more credibility.

cathryn siegelman wrote: "...i just wanted to say that president netanyahu`s speech, to the united nations was wonderful! ... i was in tears listening to him and, although i am not as proud, as i once was, to be an american, i am still proud to be a jew." OK Gideon Levi? When will you accept you are biased?

We may properly call Jews members of a separate nation, religion, ethnicity - but not of a separate race from our Mid Eastern neighbors. We are the same race as our Arabian cousins, with a Middle Eastern language (Hebrew) very much related to Arabic. Jews (plenty of Ashkenazi Jews also) are mistaken for Arabs all the time, and vice versa. Anyone who has been to Israel knows this. Since both peoples are mainly Semitic, assertions of Jews as a separate race are hollow, as is the oft repeated lie that "Zionism is racism". The term "antisemitism" applied to Jews alone is thus also logically invalid. Jews and Arabs have spread worldwide but both peoples are indigenous to the Mid East. A third of all Jews remained in the Mid East for millennia, just as some Jewish communities hung on in Israel itself for millennia. Most Israelis are of direct Mid Eastern descent. Israel is the only tiny nation that Jews claim as their own. Right of conquest is another matter entirely.

Please send this to the New York Times, it is the most well written and articulate story Ive read this year. Cheers to you!!

Bibi gives a good speech, fills Israeli's with the usual pride and fear, the whole world is against us ramble. He is able to get away with this only because of Ahmadinejad's idiotic rant. If I was one for conspiracy theories I would conclude that they are on the same team...

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Will the Pals conviently forget that they started the war by rocketing Israel with 14,000 rockets? Will they conveniently forget that they organized murderous gangs, bombs, and suicide bombers to attack Israeli civilians? Are you comparing the Jewish victims of the Nazi's to the Pals? What precisely did those Jews do to threaten the lives of Germans? What is the equivalent to the suicide bombers and the 14,000 rockets?

Netanyahu's circus act at the UN is no better than Ahmadinejad's absurd clowning with the subject in trying to make hay with the memory of the holocaust. Netanyahu and others that keep trotting out the holocaust at every opportunity are doing a disservice to the memory of the millions that perished and it is starting to have a negative effect on me and on others.

You look at it as exploitation. We look at it as constant reminders that it will not happen again. We have learned never to sit silent but to fight the insidious evil in every battle field. Those deaths were terrible and the only thing that would make them worse is more deaths. Never again.

Gideon. Nice to see such reportage of the truth without any religious slant - it's just a shame that there aren't more journalists of your quality and integrity in the world!

In his masterful emulation of the ranting, raving and foaming of Gadaffi and Ahmadinejad, Netanyahu cheapened Israel. Dignity eludes Netanyahu as it eludes his fellow ranting demagogues. There is no histrionic too extreme, debasement too disgusting, or pander too crude for any of them.

Gideon Levy just can't bring himself to compliment Bibi The best he could do was to criticize the waving of the document? What about the content, isn't that what's really important.

Please read the article, and understand the critical among us are just this. Critical, but among us, and deserve much more respect than showed in this talkback

...in a sandstorm of spin and unreality from the Israel haters - thank you from those of us working for a fair and just peace.

C'mon Gidon, credit where it's due, the speech was Bibi doing what Bibi does best; Hasbara. It's the role he was always best suited for, going back to his own stint in the UN and starring role on CNN during Gulf War I. Save your criticism for his role as decision maker and leader, that's where he is flawed. I am quite happy leaving him up front explaining our actions to the world, I just don't want him deciding himself what those actions should be.

True German Potato Salad at a German Restaurant is very hard to digest. I don't know what they put in that stuff to make it taste so good. Bacon juice maybe? Anyway, next time I'll switch to the Macaroni Salad.

It's hard not to agree with many of Levy's critiques... but was everything Bibi said wrong? Was he totally wrong to say that "the jury's still out on the United Nations, and recent signs... are not encouraging"? Was he wrong to complain that those who applaud Ahmadinejad make a "mockery" of the UN charter? As for Levy, he claims that comparisons between the Nazis and Israelis are "baseless and infuriating." Agreed. But has Levy not read some of the editorials (and outrageous Talkback comments) in his own newspaper, in the foreign press, and in "respectable" academic journals? Such comparisons are rampant within the knee-jerk anti-Zionism industry today, many of whom gleefully quote Mr. Levy, himself, as an "insider" authority on Israel. Also, did Levy seriously cite Bashar Assad as a sincere peace partner? Assad has "been knocking on doors for years," eh? Would that be the Golan front door, or the South Lebanon back door?

Politicians are just elected officials. They're not necessarily Brain Surgeons or Johnie Cochrans. We need to stop reacting predictably. Read what I just said in another post and then maybe you'll get some more ideas about how to confront Iran diplomatically. Signed Garbage Collector Yosemite.

I DIDNT THINK IT WAS CHEAPENING AT ALL. I ACTUALLY CRIED DURING HIS SPEECH. IT COVERED ALL AREAS, AND WAS BRILLIANT. EXCELLENT SPEECH. HIS PRIDE IN HIS COUNTRY SHINED OVER ALL. HE WAS A SHINING LIGHT AMONGST THE RADICALS. HE MADE HIS POINT LOUD AND CLEAR. EVERYONE IN ISRAEL SHOULD BE PROUD.

I was deeply moved and impressed by Netanyahu's speech at the UN. Netanyahu honors his people by speaking the truth and defending his country. God bless him and the country and citizens of Israel.

In the uneducated, virulent racist, ignorant world of the Islamic street, they know nothing about the documentary evidence of the Holocaust. Unfortunately, that is also true in much of the streets of the 3rd world. Let them dismiss this as well, as they will. But at least they are dismissing evidence rather than an assertion based on evidence. With respecdt to Hamas, Net's point isn't that Hamas is as strong as the Nazi's. His point is that their goal is the same. And but for Israel's might, well I don't even want to think what would happen. Gazans should thank their lucky stars that their enemy isn't Hamas. They would be torn asunder. 14,000 rockets is quantitatively a blitz ... though spread out as they are, I suppose its "only" terror. Only 19 dead eh Gid? And tell me slowly what their mortal sins were?

G. Levy doesnt know what he's talking about.

We know old Bibi is a regular clown.

It's hard not to agree with many of Levy's critiques... but was everything Bibi said wrong? Was he totally wrong to say that "the jury's still out on the United Nations, and recent signs... are not encouraging"? Was he wrong to complain that those who applaud Ahmadinejad make a "mockery" of the UN charter? As for Levy, he claims that comparisons between the Nazis and Israelis are "baseless and infuriating." Agreed. But has Levy not read some of the editorials (and outrageous Talkback comments) in his own newspaper, in the foreign press, and in "respectable" academic journals? Such comparisons are rampant within the knee-jerk anti-Zionism industry today, many of whom gleefully quote Mr. Levy, himself, as an "insider" authority on Israel. Also, did Levy seriously cite Bashar Assad as a sincere peace partner? Assad has "been knocking on doors for years," eh? Would be the Golan front door, or the South Lebanon back door?

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As an American leftist, I find the notion of Jewish race based rights to the land to be disturbing. Netanyahu quoting from the bible and then claiming racial descendance from those who spake the bible's words as a justification for the settlement enterprise is unsettling. What about the Canaanites? The Philistines? Don't they have a racial claim to Israel? They lost their right cause god was on the Jew's side? What about when the Jews lost Israel and the Zorastrian king of Persia, Cyrus the Great, returned the Jews to the lands of Israel? If the Jews won Israel by force, shouldn't those who kicked the Jews out of Israel the first time have won it by force? And if it was Cyrus who returned the Jews ... does that mean Persia has claim to the land? I get the need for states, and accept that all states gain their sovereignty by force, but I don't accept the Jewish racial right to the land that trumps those in Israel who can't pass the religious ministry's Jewish tests.

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Levy complains about a "propagandist prime minister", yet Levy himself is a stellar example of propagandist. Levy cheapens his profession by a pro-active denial of any negative activity by the Palestinians. In Levy's writings, the war crimes all belong to Israel and the Palestinians do no wrong. You will never see him quote Goldstone's damning conclusions about the Palestinians, so here is the UN conclusion, quoted verbatim, that Levy will never quote or address in his column: "From the facts available, the Mission finds that the rocket and mortars attacks, launched by Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, have caused terror in the affected communities of southern Israel and in Israel as a whole. Furthermore, it is the Mission?s view that the mortars and rockets are uncontrolled and uncontrollable, respectively. This indicates the commission of an indiscriminate attack on the civilian population of southern Israel, a war crime, and may amount to crimes against humanity."