Israel moves to ban learning Holocaust lessons

Legislation introduced last week in Jerusalem would impose three years’ imprisonment to anyone who draws a comparison between events or officials in the Holocaust and events or officials in the State of Israel.

“Whoever publishes, in writing or orally, comparisons between events, elected officials, symbols of government or organizations to the Nazi regime or for acts committed during the Nazi regime and which are crimes against the Jewish people or crimes against humanity, the penalty is three years imprisonment,” reads the bill.

The law would be an addendum to the Holocaust Denial Prohibition Act of 1986 which, according to some Knesset lawmakers, does not go far enough.

“The main law designed to deal with this type of behavior is the Holocaust Denial Prohibition Law, 1986, but the existing law does not limit comparisons between institutions or events that take place in the State of Israel, and between those during the Holocaust and the Nazi regime, something that could cheapen the concepts of the Holocaust and encourage Holocaust denial,” explains the legislation.

While the bill’s sponsors claim to be “supporting Holocaust survivors” with their proposed law, several Holocaust survivors might well be indicted if the law were passed.

Henny Fischler, for instance, warns that while she no longer sees swastikas, the Nazis have returned in the guise of harsh vaccine and mask mandates — neither of which she obeyed.

“The Nazis, they didn’t die. They’re still living here in between us, even here in Israel,” said Henny in Never Again is Now Global, a documentary in which several survivors compare COVID-19 mandates to the Holocaust. “I don’t know how they did it, but they are here,” she adds.

Israel was the first country to experiment Pfizer’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine on its population, lauding itself as “a lab for Pfizer”. Israeli officials then instituted harsh vaccine mandates in which they tried to require that bracelets be worn to identify the unvaccinated. 

Vera Sharav is another Holocaust survivor who has been vocal in comparing Reichstag policies which precipitated the Nuremberg Laws to pandemic policies which violated the Nuremberg Laws.

As a young girl during the Holocaust, Vera Sharav refused to board an orphans’ boat with the rest of the children and threw a tantrum until she could join a family on their private boat. The orphans’ boat was later torpedoed by Nazis, and none of the children survived. 

Sharav says that drawing Holocaust comparisons is essential to fulfilling the promise to “never again” allow another Holocaust.

“If we are to avert another Holocaust, we must identify ominous current parallels before they poison the fabric of society. . .Those who declare that Holocaust analogies are ‘off-limits’ are betraying the victims of the Holocaust by denying the relevance of the Holocaust,” says Sharav.

For her remarks, Sharav was investigated by Bavarian police for Holocaust denial. If Israel’s new law is passed, Sharav and other survivors could also face similar investigation by Israeli authorities.

The bill comes just months after Israel quietly extended its COVID-19 laws despite overwhelming opposition. Despite there being no COVID-19 outbreak the law will remain in effect until February 15, 2024, "to continue to enable legal infrastructure for imposing restrictions and maintaining public health." 

The Law on Special Authorities for Dealing with the Novel Coronavirus grants the government unbridled authority to implement sweeping restrictions and criminalize non-compliance. It authorizes the government to require proof of vaccination, a negative coronavirus test or recovery certificate as a condition for entering places that are open to the public, businesses, workplaces, and more. 

Restrictions may be placed on movement and gatherings both in public and private spaces, including one’s own residence. The government can close businesses and can force those that remain open to serve only the vaccinated. 

Physical distancing and masking requirements may also be enforced. 

Establishments allowing entry to a person who has not presented an up-to-date negative test result, Green Pass vaccine passport, or proof of recovery may be fined up to NIS 10,000 ($2,815).  

The government may enforce hygiene, regulate types of activities and place restrictions related to a person’s private vehicle. Limitations on schools may be enforced as well. 

“The law does not generally apply to the president of the state, official buildings of the Knesset, the state comptroller’s office, and courts and tribunals,” says the bill. “It similarly does not apply to the Israel Defense Force, the Israel police, the Prison Authority, and other institutions specified by the law.”