The EU Delegation issues the following statement in agreement with the EU Heads of Mission in Israel:

As we do every year, the Delegation of the European Union to the State of Israel and the 26 Embassies of EU Member States present in Israel today unite with the people of Israel and Jews across the world in remembering the victims of the Holocaust. The brutal murder of six million Jewish men, women and children by Nazi Germany and its local collaborators will forever remain a dark stain on our history. We renew our solemn pledge to honour the memory of the Shoah, to defend it against efforts to deny or distort it and to fight antisemitism in any form it may take.

But this is not a regular year. On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists murdered, mutilated, raped and kidnapped more than a thousand Israelis with sheer unbelievable cruelty and in complete indifference to the consequences of these atrocities for their own population. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this terrorist attack, including many Arab citizens of Israel. The victims of this barbaric massacre included men, women, young children and elderly Holocaust survivors who after having survived the Nazi genocide in Europe came to Israel and once again were subject to a deadly anti-Semitic pogrom. They were targeted only because they were Jews living in the State of Israel.

“This is the most heinous assault against Jews since the Holocaust. We thought this could never happen again, yet it did,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on October 13 during a solidarity visit to Israel. “In the face of this unspeakable tragedy, there is only one possible response: Europe stands with Israel.”

In the aftermath of October 7, we have witnessed an unprecedented increase in antisemitism and anti-Semitic incidents in Europe and across the world. This is unacceptable. We have increased our engagement to fight the hatred of Jews in word and deed. The European Union and member states have not only adopted policies and commitments, but they have also put in place numerous legal instruments that we will use to counter different forms of antisemitism.

As President von der Leyen said on October 13 in Tel Aviv: “There is no place and zero tolerance for hate in Europe, both online and offline, against anyone. Over the past years, the European Union has put the fight against anti-Semitism and the fostering of Jewish life in Europe at the heart of our action like never before.”

The Holocaust was a unique rupture of civilization that occurred on our continent. It is our sacred duty to ensure that it is never forgotten and never repeated – not in Europe nor anywhere else in the world.

This is a joint statement agreed by the Ambassador of the European Union to the State of Israel and the Ambassadors of all European Union member states represented in Israel, i.e. Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.