Netanyahu Apologizes to U.S. Politician, After Praising Castro
Wednesday November 24, 2010 17:19
During his last official visit to the U.S., the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to apologize to a Republican congresswoman, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, for having praised Fidel Castro, after the Cuban leader stressed the suffering of the Jews throughout history.
In September, The Atlantic Monthly newspaper published an interview with Fidel Castro, in which the Cuban political leader defended for the first time Israel against the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments, who had declared that the Holocaust was "a myth".
"The Jews have lived an existence that is much harder than ours. There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust," Castro claimed at that time.
The Cuban leader received praise from Netanyahu and a friendly letter from President Shimon Peres after this statement.
However, Ros-Lehtinen, of Cuban origins, urged for Netanyahu's retraction and apology, which came during the prime minister's visit to the U.S two weeks ago, during a private conversation.
More:
http://www.imemc.org/article/59998