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Maduro backs Brazilian president’s comparison of Israel’s actions to Hitler’s

The Venezuelan leader called on the Israeli people to "stop the massacres" and expressed hope that "humanity will soon come there and bring justice"

CARACAS, February 20. /TASS/. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has backed his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who compared the Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip to the crimes of Nazi Germany.

"Hitler was a monster created by Western elites. Israel's criminal military apparatus now has the same funding," Maduro said on the television program titled With Maduro Plus. "As President Lula da Silva said, the Israeli government is doing the same thing [to the Palestinian people] that Hitler did to the Jewish people."

Maduro also called on the Israeli people to "stop the massacres" and expressed hope that "humanity will soon come there and bring justice."

Lula da Silva said on February 18 that the massacres of civilians resulting from Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip could be compared to Hitler's crimes against the Jews. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement the same day, saying "the Brazilian president's remarks are shameful and serious." He also said he had decided, together with Foreign Minister Israel Katz, to immediately summon the Brazilian ambassador to Israel for a stern representation.

On February 19, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz declared the Brazilian president persona non grata until he apologized and retracted his comparison of Israel to Hitler's Germany. Celso Amorim, the Brazilian president’s envoy for foreign affairs, said Lula da Silva wouldn’t apologize.

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Israel Venezuela

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