‘Despicable lie': Knesset speaker slams accusations against Israel of genocide

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana rejected accusations that Israel was committing genocide, in a speech he gave on Thursday in Rome to parliamentary leaders at a Council of Europe gathering.

“Israel is not committing genocide. Enough with this despicable lie,” Ohana said, adding, “Today we face a severe crisis of courage on the international stage. Many world leaders proclaim the importance of their values. Yet when the moment of truth arrives, only a few are willing to defend them.”

During the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, “the deadliest day for the Jews since the Holocaust, there was no ‘NAZA,’ no collateral damage,” he said, referencing a recently released documentary that accused Israeli authorities of indifference to civilian deaths during the war against Hamas in Gaza.

“Innocent civilians, women, children, babies, even, were not caught in the crossfire. They were the targets,” Ohana said about the Palestinian invasion from Gaza in which terrorists killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Ohana also recalled the genocide of Jews in Europe as he held up several thick books.

“In this book, which always sits on my desk, and which I have brought with me, there are no words but one: Jew, Jew, Jew, Jew, 6 million times. When you feel its weight, you begin to grasp the scale of what we lost here on European soil. This is what real genocide looks like,” he said.

The meeting was held by the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament under the auspices of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

PACE President Petra Bayr thanked Ohana in Hebrew after his speech, drawing applause.

The gathering at Italy’s Chamber of Deputies in Palazzo Montecitorio, Rome, was attended by roughly 70 speakers or deputy speakers and 500 delegates, organizers said. Its three themes were “threats to democracy,” “artificial intelligence” and the “international rules-based order,” according to the event’s program for Oct. 15-16.

Italian Chamber President Lorenzo Fontana’s opening remarks emphasized human rights, the rule of law and parliamentary cooperation.

Ohana on Friday said he held 14 meetings with counterparts in just a day and a half during the event.

“On every platform and in every meeting, the voice of the State of Israel—and the righteousness of its cause—were heard loud and clear,” he wrote on X.