Fifth Holocaust forum kicks off in Israel

By AbdelRaouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - World leaders gathered Thursday to participate in the Fifth Holocaust Forum in West Jerusalem.

About 40 leaders attended the event at the world Holocaust commemoration center, Yad Vashem Museum, namely the presidents of France, Russia, Italy, Germany, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Prince Charles of the U.K.

Arab countries were noticeably absent.

"The Jewish people have learned from the lessons of the past by taking threats seriously … we have the ability to defend ourselves by ourselves,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the forum.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said: "The state of Israel is not a compensation for the catastrophe. Rather, it arose because it is the home of the Jewish people. We went out and returned to it after 2,000 years in the diaspora."

"Manifestations of anti-Semitism and hatred continues," he said. "We thank all the countries that have adopted the fight against anti-Semitism and we call on everyone to adopt this definition.”

The forum is being held amid what Palestinians say "the Israeli continued attacks" against the occupied territories.

In a statement, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said "Israel uses the Holocaust to cover up its crimes against the Palestinian people" and renewed "its strong condemnation of the Holocaust."

*Bassel Ibrahim contributed to this report from Ankara