AMSTERDAM — Israeli President Isaac Herzog, attending an opening of a Holocaust museum in Amsterdam on Sunday (March 10), called for prayers for peace and the immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas in its Oct 7 attack and still held by the Islamist militants. As he arrived at the Portuguese Synagogue to make a speech, Herzog was greeted with.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog walks near the Portuguese Synagogue on the day of the opening of the National Holocaust Museum, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 10, 2024.AMSTERDAM — Israeli President Isaac Herzog, attending an opening of a Holocaust museum in Amsterdam on Sunday , called for prayers for peace and the immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas in its Oct 7 attack and still held by the Islamist militants.
"Hatred and anti-semitism are flourishing worldwide, and we must fight it together," Herzog said in his speech. " is a slap in the face of victims both in Gaza and the Jews that starved in World War Two," protester Huibert Boer said. Faced with international concerns about the heavy humanitarian toll of the war, Israel has been stressing that it did not start it and was doing everything possible to minimise civilian casualties, blaming Hamas for fighting in densely populated areas.
Before he became president, a largely ceremonial role, Herzog used to head Israel's Labour party, which historically has advocated for making peace with Palestinians.