The crimes of anti-Semitism demand a global response, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein said Tuesday in a speech at the Belgian Federal Parliament in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
This marked the first time that a senior Israeli official was invited to address the Belgian parliament, as well as the first time the parliament has held a ceremony for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marked on Jan. 27.
President of the Chamber Siegfried Bracke and Holocaust survivor Paul Sobol also spoke.
Edelstein pointed out that the city of Antwerp had recently tried to move the city's Holocaust memorial to a "quieter place where it would have less effect on traffic."
The Knesset speaker also told the parliamentarians about the praise "heaped" on a Belgian teacher who had received a monetary prize for participating in an Iranian competition for cartoons mocking the Holocaust and Israel.
"Last year, after he won the prize, the town where he lives named him an 'ambassador of cultural excellence. But based on his cartoon, I'm not sure what culture he represents. We must not forget the despicable attack on the Jewish museum in Brussels in which four people – including two Israelis – were murdered. The list of tragic incidents goes on," Edelstein said.
The Knesset speaker noted that after the Holocaust, the world realized that Jews would never be safe without a country of their own.
"Today, the state of Israel guarantees that no Jews will ever be without a home or be neglected because of indifference. While that is Israel's national mission, anti-Semitic crimes demand a global solution," he said.
On Tuesday evening, Edelstein met with Belgian Foreign Minister Didier J.L. Reynders and told him, "We know that there is continued security cooperation with the Palestinian Authority. So why not on economics? Or technology? Or agriculture?
"I think that true cooperative venues should be sought out. This is the best way to move ahead with the Palestinian Authority. I long for the day when heads of parliaments in Arab countries won't avoid me, and we can cooperate," Edelstein told Reynders.
On Wednesday, Edelstein was due to deliver the keynote address at the International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the EU Parliament in Brussels.
