Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana slammed world leaders for accusing Israel of committing genocide, calling the allegations a “despicable lie” during a speech at the Council of Europe on Thursday.
“Israel is not committing genocide. Enough with this despicable lie. Israel is fighting genocide."
"On October 7, there was no ‘collateral damage,' civilians, men, women, children, and even babies- were not caught in crossfire. They were the targets," Ohana added.
Ohana criticized what he described as the hypocrisy of European countries accusing Israel of genocide, as well as the motives of their leaders.
“Today, we are facing a severe crisis of a lack of international courage. Many world leaders declare the importance of lofty values, but when the moment of truth arrives, it turns out that only a few are willing to defend them."
"Worse still are those who knowingly choose to lie and cynically support false propaganda in order to secure fleeting electoral support and a false sense of calm in their simmering streets," he said.
Ohana recalls October 7 Hamas massacre at parliamentary conference
Regarding the three-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas massacre in 2023, Ohana said that "last week, we marked three years since October 7, the day thousands of bloodthirsty terrorists shattered the quiet along the border between the Gaza Strip and the neighboring Israeli communities."
“They embarked on a campaign of murder, rape, and mutilation of bodies, burning people alive with medieval cruelty."
Ohana also held up a copy of the book And Every Single One Was Someone, by Phil Chernofsky, before the parliamentary speakers. The book is 1,250 pages long, and the single word “Jew” is printed six million times in small letters.
“This book, which I brought with me and which is always on my desk, contains no words,” Ohana continued.
“This thick, heavy volume contains just one word: Jew – six million times. Each one represents an entire human life. Each line represents a classroom full of children. Every few lines represent an entire school. Each page represents a town. When you hold this enormous book and feel its weight, you begin to understand the scale of the loss suffered by the Jewish people, here, on European soil," he added.
“This is what real genocide looks like," Ohana continued.
“I keep this book on my desk so that I will never forget. So that the words ‘never again’ do not become an empty slogan. This is also the responsibility that the State of Israel has carried on its shoulders since October 7: to prevent genocide."
Ohana calls on world leaders to stand with Israel
“This war is far from being merely a local conflict. It is a global confrontation between civilizations – a struggle between the forces of darkness, extremism, and fundamentalism and the forces of liberty, freedom, and democracy. Some of the member states represented here have a particularly dark chapter in the pages of history," he added.
“I call on you: This time, stand on the right side of history – alongside us," Ohana said.
During his stay in Rome, Ohana is expected to hold meetings on the sidelines of the conference with parliamentary speakers and delegations from numerous countries, including Germany, Italy, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Lithuania, Montenegro, Cyprus, and Croatia.
These meetings would be held "with the aim of strengthening interparliamentary ties and presenting Israel’s positions," the Knesset spokesperson's office said.