Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Holocaust Memorial Day, April 11:
Have the lessons of the Holocaust been learned? I believe that there are three lessons: fortify your strength, teach good deeds and fight evil. The first lesson—fortify your strength—relates first and foremost to us, the people of Israel who were abandoned and defenseless when faced with waves of murderous hatred that rose against us time after time. "In every generation there are those who stand against us." And in this generation we must fortify our strength and independence so that we will be able to prevent the current enemy from carrying out its plan. . . .
And here we are today again witnesses to the fire of the new-old hatred, the hatred of the Jews, that is expressed by organizations and regimes associated with radical Islam, headed by Iran and its proxies. Iran's leaders race to develop nuclear weapons and they openly state their desire to destroy Israel.
But in the face of these repeated statements to wipe the Jewish state off the face of the Earth, at best we hear a weak protest, and even this is fading away. The required firm protest is not heard - not a sharp condemnation, not a cry of warning. The world continues on as usual and there are even those who direct their criticism at us, against Israel.
Today, 65 years after the Holocaust, we must say in all honesty that what is most outrageous is the absence of outrage. The world gradually accepts Iran's statements of destruction against Israel and we still do not see the necessary international determination to stop Iran from arming itself with nuclear weapons.
But if we have learned anything from the lessons of the Holocaust, it is that we must not remain silent and be deterred in the face of evil.
I call on all enlightened countries to rise up to forcefully and firmly condemn Iran's destructive intentions and to act with genuine determination to stop it from acquiring nuclear weapons.
These are the three lessons of the Holocaust: fight evil, teach good deeds and fortify your strength. My friends, where does our strength come from? From our unity, from our heritage, from our common past and future. Together, we treasure our past. Together, we forge the path to our future.
We are not here by chance. We returned to this land because it is our land; we returned to Zion because it is our city. We are paving roads north and south, and transforming a barren land into a flourishing garden. This is our answer to those who seek our destruction.
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