Israel condemns Lukashenko's statements as 'deeply disturbing'

Israel yesterday condemned statements made by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during an interview with Al Arabiya English, describing them as "unacceptable and deeply disturbing."

In a post on social media platform X, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated: "The statements made by the President of Belarus, a country that knows all too well the horrors of the Holocaust committed on its soil, in an interview with Al Arabiya are unacceptable and deeply disturbing."

"Any comparison between the Holocaust of the Jewish people and Israel's just war against terrorism must be unequivocally rejected," the ministry added, as reported by Al Arabiya.

Israel also criticized what it described as "the revival of vile, outdated anti-Semitic conspiracies that should have long been consigned to history."

During the interview, Lukashenko criticized Israel's war in Gaza, saying the country had gained a "bad reputation" and described the war as a "Holocaust."

"Why do we talk about the Holocaust that the Israelis suffered when they themselves have killed so many people?" Lukashenko said. "Women, and above all children, are dying in the Gaza Strip," he added. "They are trying to build a resort on the land where those people were killed."

Lukashenko also claimed that Israel relies heavily on support from the United States and would struggle to defend itself against Iranian attacks without American military assistance.

"Israel is not a country with colossal resources, compared, for example, to Russia in its conflict with Ukraine, which would allow it to wage war with Iran," he said.

"Israel must start thinking about its future, because otherwise even nuclear weapons will not help them," the Belarusian president said.