(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte visited Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem on Monday, Sept. 3, and said he hoped the world learned lessons from the “horrific” period in history when more than six million Jews were systematically murdered by the Nazis.
Duterte, the first Philippine president to visit Israel, signed the memorial’s guest book, and also read out what he wrote, saying “may the world learn the lessons of this horrific and benighted period of human history” referring to the Holocaust period of World War II.
Speaking during his visit of the Holocaust memorial, the 73-year old Duterte said he “could not imagine a country obeying an insane leader” referring to German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
“And I could not ever fathom the spectacle of a human being going into a killing spree… I would like to say that we are one in saying that this will not happen again,” he said.
The Holocaust was Nazi Germany’s military campaign that included the systematic mass murder of the Jewish people in German-occupied Europe during World War II, from 1939 to 1945.
More than six million Jews were killed by Nazi Germany then headed by Adolf Hitler during World War II in the German occupied Europe. Millions more were also exterminated for being not part of the “Aryan race” or what the Nazis called the “master race”, including minorities and those who disagreed with the Nazi regime under Hitler.
Duterte visited the Holocaust memorial together with his daughter, Davao City mayor Sara Duterte Carpio, who is of Jewish descent.
The Philippine leader earlier said that his wife, Elizabeth Zimmerman, and her family were among the Jews who escaped persecution from Europe during World War II and found sanctuary in the Philippines.
All visiting leaders pay their respects at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial perched high in Jerusalem’s hills.
-Talks with Israel’s Netanyahu-
The controversial leader held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the second of a four-day visit to Israel, with defense deals and other areas of cooperation on the agenda.
Netanyahu noted the Philippines’ support for Israel at the United Nations and said his father had been cared for by a Filipino in his later years, as is the case with many elderly Israelis.
Duterte, speaking alongside Netanyahu ahead of their lunch, said they “share the same passion for peace”.
“But we also share the same passion of not allowing our country to be destroyed by those who have the corrupt ideology who knows nothing but to kill and destroy,” he said in English.
He thanked Israel for supplying him with unspecified defense equipment that was “critical” in “winning the war” — presumably a reference to his government’s battle against jihadists in the city of Marawi last year.
The Philippines was among the countries that abstained from a UN General Assembly vote rejecting US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December.
It also emerged as a significant new customer in 2017 for Israel, with sales of radar and anti-tank equipment worth $21 million.
On Wednesday, Duterte will inaugurate a memorial near Tel Aviv commemorating the Philippines’ acceptance of 1,300 Jews fleeing the Holocaust.
(with a report from Agence France Presse)
