Israel must not engage with those who endanger Jews – opinion

A few days after Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2022, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler “had Jewish blood.” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett responded that “such lies are meant to blame the Jews themselves for the most terrible crimes in history and thus free the oppressors of the Jews from their responsibility.”

No Israeli Government should engage with those who use these types of dishonest statements that abuse the evils of Nazism for purposes that have nothing to do with commemorating the near extermination of the Jewish people or preventing another Holocaust.

In Serbia, the country’s Deputy Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vulin, said this month that “Hitler was not a Nazi dictator, but a legally and legitimately chosen representative of the overwhelming majority of Germans.” Not only is this factually inaccurate, but it is also dangerous.  

Much like Lavrov’s, Vulin’s narrative endangers the Jewish people, and he knows this. By asserting that Hitler was the legitimate leader of Germany, Vulin is simultaneously legitimizing how Hitler came to power. 

Hitler grew the Nazi party throughout the 1920s by spreading anti-Semitism. He wrote and propagated Mein Kampf, referring to Jews as “germs” and the “international poisoners” of society. In Mein Kampf, Hitler laid the groundwork to justify the Holocaust when he wrote that The Protocols of the Elders of Zion were real. He used this fictitious text that purported to expose a Jewish conspiracy to control the world to justify his extermination of an entire people.

And the ensuing events of his years in power confirmed that his earlier propaganda sowed the seeds of the Holocaust.

Following his appointment as German Chancellor, Hitler created the official apparatus to realize the effects of his antisemitism. He exploited the Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act to gradually degrade and eventually eliminate the country’s democratic institutions. Anti-Semitic legislation and acts closely followed, preparing the ground for the victimization of the Jews., e.g., the Nuremberg laws.

Fueled by anti-Semitism as the answer to Germany’s grievances, Hitler’s gradual consolidation of power laid the groundwork for the Holocaust.

When Vulin characterizes Hitler as the legitimate leader of Germany, he is at the same time legitimating all of Hitler’s anti-Semitic activities in the 1920s and, after that, intended to eliminate the Jewish people. This historical revisionism of the events that enabled Hitler to come to power increases the likelihood that such an environment—and a leader like Hitler—can emerge again.

It should come as no surprise that the same actors peddling the notion that Hitler came to power legitimately maintain close ties with Iran—the country that seeks Israel’s destruction and whose proxies would perpetrate another Holocaust against the Jewish people if given the means and opportunity. 

Two and half months prior to praising Hitler as a legitimate leader, Vulin traveled to the inauguration of Massoud Pezeshkiyan in Tehran. He referred to Iran as a “free country” and committed to expanding cooperation with Iran, attempting to undermine its international isolation.

BRICS

In September, Vulin traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, for the BRICS security summit, where he met with   Ali Akbar Ahmadian, a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander who serves as Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

Vulin hails from Serbia, a close friend of Israel. Following the Hamas massacres of October 7, 2023, Serbia, unlike many countries, provided military assistance to Israel, receiving praise from CIA Director Bill Burns during a recent visit to Belgrade for its support.

Last summer, while traveling to Belgrade, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen called Serbia Israel’s “biggest ally in the region,” and President Isaac Herzog, while also in Belgrade this September, extolled Serbia for being a “close ally.”

Two weeks later, at the UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, declaring afterward, “I expressed my deep gratitude for Serbia’s unwavering support of Israel and the strong friendship between our nations.”

So how should Israel deal with actors like Vulin, whose statements and activities undermine the security of the Jewish people, but who, unfortunately, occupy positions of authority in countries that are indeed allies of Israel?

At the very least, Israel should avoid and not validate them. Regrettably, in Vulin’s case, the Israeli government validated Vulin in July when National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi conducted a call with him. 

There is no excuse for this. No Israeli government should engage with Vulin and others like him, regardless of how friendly their country of origin is toward Israel. Israel should, and does, greatly appreciate Serbia’s support. But this appreciation must not extend to individuals who refer to Hitler as a legitimate leader or expand cooperation with countries that want to end Israel’s existence.

Dr. Stephen Blank is a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Previously, he worked as a professor at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College.