Organizations representing dozens of countries signed an agreement with Israel
Wednesday at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem aimed at fighting anti-Semitism
and Holocaust denial.
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said the
agreement reached with the Task Force for International Cooperation (ITF) on
Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research, and the Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights – Holocaust (ODHIR) has brought countries from
around the world together to tackle expressions of hatred towards the Jewish
people.
During the ceremony marking the signing of the accord, the deputy
foreign minister made a reference to Iran, whose President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
has repeatedly denied the Holocaust and said Israel should be “erased from the
map.”
“There are those in the world who deny the Holocaust and are
planning the next one,” he said. “We must preserve the Holocaust’s
memory so
that such horrors and hatred shall never repeat themselves, and make the
world a
better place.”
The ITF is an international task force created by Sweden
with 27 member states. Its current president is former Knesset speaker
Dan
Tichon, in accordance with its rotating presidency policy.
The ODHIR is
an NGO concerned with human rights which counts 57 nations as members.