In a speech Tuesday to the 37th World Zionist Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed a Palestinian leader for the extermination of 6 million Jews during World War II, sparking outrage from Holocaust experts and survivors.
Netanyahu told the group that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler sought to only expel the Jewish people, but Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amni al-Husseini, had convinced Hitler during a meeting in November 1941 that extermination was necessary.
"Hitler didn't want to exterminate the Jews at the time, he wanted to expel the Jews," Netanyahu told the group, reported The Independent. "And Haj Amin al-Husseini went to Hitler and said, 'If you expel them, they'll all come here.'" According to Netanyahu, Hitler then asked: "So what should I do with them?" and al-Husseini replied, "Burn them."
While it is true that al-Husseini did meet with Hitler and was a Nazi supporter, most reputable historians insist that al-Husseini did not inspire the Holocaust, according to Ynet News.
One of these historians questioning Netanyahu's interpretation of history is Professor Dan Michman, a world-renowned expert who serves on the head of the Institute of Holocaust Research at Bar-Ilan University and Head of the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem. Michman said that the two leaders only met after Nazis had already begun their extermination effort, known as the Final Solution, reported The Guardian.
Netanyahu has made similar claims in past speeches, including one at Knesset in 2012 in which he described al-Husseini as "one of the leading architects" of the Final Solution.
Moshe Zimmermann, a prominent Holocaust and anti-Semitism researcher at Hebrew University in Jersusalem, told the Associated Press that Netanyahu made a "far-reaching argument" that didn't hold water.
"Any attempt to deflect the burden from Hitler to others is a form of Holocaust denial," he told AP. "It cheapens the Holocaust."
