JAKARTA - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu retaliated against rising international pressure over the war in Gaza.
Italy on Wednesday joined a growing list of European countries traditionally refraining from criticizing Israel in demanding an end to the war, after Germany raised its language towards the Israeli campaign earlier in the week.
Netanyahu said last week similar criticisms from France, Britain, and Canada "excited" Hamas and said the leaders of the three countries were "on the wrong side of history".
Speaking at a conference on antisemitism in Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel lived in a time "when the old desire to eliminate Jews became stronger".
"The new anti-semitism targets the Israeli state," he said.
"They use demonstrations, delegitimization, and double standards," Saar continued.
He said organizations such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) that issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in Gaza, as well as calls for an arms embargo against Israel, weakened the country's ability to defend itself.
"Revocational of Israel's rights and ability to defend itself can mean only one thing. The second Holocaust," he said.
European countries in general say Israel has the right to self-defense explicitly.
However, there has been an increase in shock on the scale of destruction in Gaza, the deadliest episode in decades of conflict between Israel and Palestine.
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Hamas-led attacks killed about 1,200 people and left 251 people held hostage in Gaza on the deadliest day for Israel since its founding in 1948.
The military operation killed about 54,000 Palestinians, more than what happened in countless war rounds between the two sides.
Netanyahu has drawn a direct link between criticism coming from Europe and a spike in antisemitism incidents which he says are part of a "contradict against barbarism" war-sepatriated war in Gaza.
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