Elie Wiesel takes out full-page ad in major newspapers calling for support of Netanyahu’s upcoming speech to Congress as part of Israel’s struggle to prevent a nuclear Iran.
Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel has expressed support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled address to a special session in Congress on the Iranian nuclear threat next month. Pointedly, Wiesel asked, “How can I remain silent?”
While the address has generated significant political and diplomatic tension, Wiesel chose to voice support for Netanyahu’s speech via a full-page newspaper advertorial that will run in both the New York Times and the Washington Post, Reuters reports.
Wiesel announced he will attend Netanyahu’s speech and urges other American leaders to join him in considering the crucial issues at hand. “I plead with you to put aside the politics that have obscured the critical decisions to be made. Surely it is within your power to find a solution that will permit Israel’s Prime Minister to deliver his urgent message.”
“Will you join me in hearing the case for keeping weapons from those who preach death to Israel and America?” Wiesel asks in the ad.
Invoking the memory of past atrocities committed against Jews throughout history, Wiesel warns of the current threat Jews face from the “catastrophic danger of a nuclear Iran.”
“On the day before Purim the Prime Minister of Israel will address Congress…I intend to be there,” Wiesel says. “Should we not show our support for what might be the last clear warning before a terrible deal is struck?”
He continues, “As one who has seen the enemies of the Jewish people make good on threats to exterminate us, how can I remain silent?”
“There are few personalities more respected and admired in the entire world than Professor Wiesel,” said Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who was instrumental in producing the ad. “He represents a conscience of mankind. As someone who witnessed the devastating genocide of the Jews first hand, Professor Wiesel clearly understands the stakes of an Iranian nuclear power. He is the living face of the six million victims of the Holocaust.”
These sentiments were echoed last week by the Zionist Origination of America (ZOA).
“The Iran issue is a serious and frightening existential issue for the Jewish State of Israel, and Iran is also a major threat to the US. And there is no time to waste,” the ZOA asserted.
Underscoring the lessons of the Holocaust, the ZOA declared: “We must never again be the Jews of appeasement and paralyzing fear…We must speak out with strength and pride. We must publicly state that President Obama is endangering America and Israel by his delaying on stopping Iran’s nuclear program.”
By: United with Israel Staff
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