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Israel rebukes Belarus leader over Holocaust comparison

Jerusalem condemned Alexander Lukashenko’s likening of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza to the Nazi genocide, calling them “deeply disturbing” and antisemitic.

Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko speaks during a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State of Russia and Belarus in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 26, 2026. Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP via Getty Images.
Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko speaks during a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State of Russia and Belarus in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 26, 2026. Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP via Getty Images.

Israel on Tuesday condemned remarks made by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko likening Israeli actions against Hamas in Gaza to the Holocaust.

“The remarks made by the President of Belarus—a country that knows all too well the horrors of the Holocaust committed on its own soil—in his interview with Al Arabiya are unacceptable and deeply disturbing,” said Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

“Any comparison between the Holocaust of the Jewish people and Israel’s just war against terrorism must be unequivocally rejected. Equally appalling is the revival of vile, outdated antisemitic conspiracies that should have long been consigned to history,” the statement continued.

Al Arabiya quoted Lukashenko, an autocratic ruler and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as saying: “Israel needs to be more careful and more cautious here. They have already received such a reputation in the international community that there is nowhere further to fall after bombing Gaza. It is a Holocaust.”

He added: “What Holocaust can Israelis speak of when they have killed so many people, especially women and children? They have wiped everything off the face of the Earth there. They are even planning to build some kind of resort on the bones of those people. It is complete nonsense.”

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