The External Affairs Ministry and Speaker of the Lok Sabha Om Birla have received an emphatic letter from the Israeli Embassy expressing their concerns and registering protest against Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction) leader Sanjay Raut’s anti-Semitic statement on the social media site X. The recent development was reported by The Print.
According to diplomatic sources, the embassy wanted the Rajya Sabha MP to know how his remarks had harmed a nation that has consistently supported India. “Why did Hitler hate the Jewish community so much? Is this understandable now,” was how the Uddhav Sena leader reacted to an article on the “dire condition” in a Gaza hospital on 14 November.
The politician deleted the abhorrent post later after it was widely criticised, however, it had already received over 293,000 views by the time Israeli authorities grabbed its screenshot. They sent a mail to the Indian authorities along with a picture of the comments. According to accounts, the Israelis in the letter were appalled to learn that an Indian member of parliament was engaging in “anti-Semitism” of a kind that had never been witnessed in the country.
Sanjay Raut had reacted on a tweet that claimed, “Premature babies are screaming in Al-Shifa hospital. the power to the incubator in which they were kept has been cut off by Israel. Armed forces have surrounded the hospital from all sides. No food items, milk, or water are allowed inside the hospital.” There was also a video that was alleged to be from the hospital.
Sanjay Raut made the implication that Adolf Hitler slaughtered Jews during the Holocaust because they committed such alleged acts earlier. He defended the extermination of Jews during the Second World War. More than 60 lakh Jews perished in the ethnic cleansing where they were put to death by being locked in gas chambers. However, he removed the tweet after severe backlash from netizens.
Raut has spoken out a great deal on the Israel-Hamas war since it started on 7 October after Hamas attacked Israel, killed over 1200 of its citizens and abducted hundreds to keep them as hostages. He compared the Bharatiya Janata Party to the terror outfit last month. He then claimed that India was backing Israel as it provided the Narendra Modi administration with the Pegasus “snooping” program.