Netanyahu says Jews will ‘stand alone’ if they must

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers his speech after a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Jerusalem, Sunday, March 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, Pool)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Holocaust survivors Thursday that Jews will “stand alone” if they have to, adding that they should welcome but not expect non-Jewish support.

“If we have to stand alone, we stand alone,” he told a delegation who will be torchbearers at a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony next Sunday.

“If it is possible to recruit Gentiles, that’s good. But if we don’t protect ourselves, no one will protect us,” he told the group at his office.

Netanyahu’s words come as Israel faces mounting criticism over the war it is waging in Gaza against Palestinian militant group Hamas, including from its closest ally the United States.

Finding himself increasingly isolated internationally, Netanyahu has said repeatedly that nothing will stop Israeli troops from entering the southernmost Gaza city of Rafah to press home their mission to eliminate Hamas.

Washington has said repeatedly that it opposes any operation that does not provide protection for the 1.5 million civilians estimated to be sheltering in the city, a position reiterated by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in talks with Netanyahu on Wednesday.

Israel’s offensive against Hamas has killed at least 34,596 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

The war began with an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Militants also took some 250 hostages. Israel says 129 remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.