Colombian President Gustavo Petro said that history will record Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “perpetrator of genocide.”
The debate between the two men intensified on the “X” platform after Netanyahu accused President Petro of being “supportive of Hamas” and “anti-Semitic,” and “does not have the right to give lessons to Israel.”
Petro responded to his “X” account, directing his speech to Netanyahu, “Mr. Netanyahu, history will record you as a perpetrator of genocide,” adding that “throwing bombs on thousands of children, women, and innocent elderly people does not make you a hero.”
Commenting on Netanyahu’s words, he said, “The Semites should not be responsible for genocide because they were subjected to genocide.”
He stressed that “just as the genocide committed against the Jewish people in Nazi Europe is unacceptable, the current genocide against the Palestinian people is also unacceptable.”
The Colombian president explained, “I am a secularist, a Republican, and a supporter of ordinary people, and I am not a supporter of Hamas. My democratic, ordinary, secular, and religious principles lead me to reject the genocide and inhuman barbarism practiced by Netanyahu.”
Petro concluded his speech by stressing that he is neither anti-Semitic nor an enemy of humanity. If Gaza dies, humanity dies too.
Señor Netanyahu, he used the history of a genocida. Lanzar bombs so many miles of fire and fire, so many people and so many young people that no one has to use a hero. We used the lado de quienes mataron millones de judíos in Europa.
This type is a type that does not need to be imported…
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) May 12, 2024
It is noteworthy that on May 1, during a massive march in the capital, Bogota, on the occasion of Labor Day, Petro crowned his country’s series of solidarity measures with the Palestinian people by announcing the severing of relations with Israel.
During the march, Petro addressed the gathered crowds by saying, “Here before you, the government of change and the government of the President of the Republic announce that tomorrow we will sever diplomatic relations with the State of Israel, because it has a government and a president who are committing genocide.”
The Colombian president’s directives contradict the history of Israel’s relations with his country, which was known for its strong connection with Tel Aviv – especially in the volume of military exchanges – to the point that journalists described it as “the Israel of Latin America.”