Knesset speaker rejects genocide charges in speech to European parliamentary leaders

Israeli officials and Holocaust scholars have clashed over the use of the term "genocide" to describe Israel's actions in Gaza, following the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to South African jurist Navi Pillay. Pillay heads a United Nations commission that issued a 2025 report concluding Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. The report notably did not address the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2026. Menachem Z. Rosensaft and James McAuley, both Holocaust experts, argue that Israel's conduct does not meet the legal definition of genocide under international law. They emphasize that the Genocide Convention requires intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group as such. According to their analysis, Israel's military actions were aimed at removing Hamas as a security threat, not eliminating the Palestinian population. Rosensaft teaches genocide law at two Ivy League institutions and previously served on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. McAuley worked at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and has written extensively on Holocaust memory. Both stress that while Israel's actions may be controversial, they do not constitute genocide. In response to the controversy, Israeli Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin rejected the genocide charges in a speech to European parliamentary leaders in Rome. He accused world leaders of using the situation in Gaza for political gain and emphasized that the killing of six million Jews during the Holocaust is what constitutes real genocide. Public opinion in the United States and Britain reflects growing belief that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, according to recent polls. However, the debate continues over whether the term accurately describes Israel's actions or serves as a political tool. The conflict highlights deeper divisions over the interpretation of Holocaust memory and its relevance to contemporary issues.