PM Netanyahu: Israel Will Continue to Stand Against Enemies Even If It Has to be Alone

JAKARTA - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized that Israel will not stop fighting in Gaza until it defeats Hamas, no matter how much pressure it has to bear to stop the war, even on its own, while speaking at the official state commemoration ceremony of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day Israel, at Yad Vashem.

Responding to reports the International Criminal Court in The Hague would issue arrest warrants against several high-ranking Israeli officials, including himself, PM Netanyahu said the move "undermines" Israeli citizens' "most basic right" to self-defense and places a "grave stain on the concept of international justice." "

"From here in Jerusalem, I send a very clear message" You will not chain our hands and even if Israel has to stand alone, Israel will stand alone and will continue to fight our enemies until victory," he said, according to The Times of Israel, May 6.

The Israeli prime minister said that during the Holocaust the Jewish people were "completely powerless against those who wanted to destroy us."

"No country has come to our aid. Today again we face an enemy bent on destroying us. I say to world leaders: no amount of pressure will stop Israel from defending itself. As prime minister, I made a promise here today "This is from Jerusalem on Holocaust Remembrance Day, if Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone," he explained.

"We will defeat our genocidal enemies. Now it will never happen again," he said.

Switching back to Hebrew, Netanyahu said, “During the Holocaust, we were silent and powerless. We will not return to those dark times.”

In a statement hours before the annual commemorations began on Sunday evening local time, PM Netanyahu said the Jewish state "is the only refuge for the Jewish people" and "non-Jews who make promises cannot be trusted."

"These heroic survivors were right. In the terrible Holocaust, there were great leaders in the world who stood by it, so the first lesson of the Holocaust is this: If we don't protect ourselves, no one will protect us. And if we must stand alone, we will stand alone," he said.

"Therefore, we will defend ourselves at all costs, overcome our enemies and guarantee our security, in the Gaza Strip, on the northern borders, everywhere," he added.