Iranian President’s Holocaust Remarks Spark Outcry in Israel

19 September 2022, Iran, Tehran: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi speaks during an interview with CBS in Tehran, ahead of his visit to New York to attend the 77th session of the UN General Assembly. (dpa)
19 September 2022, Iran, Tehran: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi speaks during an interview with CBS in Tehran, ahead of his visit to New York to attend the 77th session of the UN General Assembly. (dpa)
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Iranian President’s Holocaust Remarks Spark Outcry in Israel

19 September 2022, Iran, Tehran: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi speaks during an interview with CBS in Tehran, ahead of his visit to New York to attend the 77th session of the UN General Assembly. (dpa)
19 September 2022, Iran, Tehran: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi speaks during an interview with CBS in Tehran, ahead of his visit to New York to attend the 77th session of the UN General Assembly. (dpa)

The Iranian president's comment that “there are some signs” that the Holocaust happened but that the issue required more research sparked an outcry on Monday from Israeli officials, who denounced the remarks as antisemitic Holocaust denial.

Hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi made the comment during an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” on the eve of his visit to New York for the UN General Assembly. When asked whether he believed the Holocaust happened, Raisi said there “are some signs that it happened.”

He added: “If so, they should allow it to be investigated and researched.”

Soon after the interview aired, outrage spread in Israel, a country home to tens of thousands of Holocaust survivors. The chairman of Israel’s official Holocaust memorial center, Yad Vashem, rebuked Raisi as a “despicable anti-Semite.”

“Even casting doubts on the occurrence of the Holocaust is one of the most abhorrent forms of anti-Semitism,” said Dani Dayan.

Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid, whose late father survived the Holocaust, posted a series of graphic photographs from the genocide on Twitter with the caption: “Some signs.”

Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan also decried Raisi's comments as “shocking,” calling on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to deny him “a world stage to spread antisemitism and hatred.”

Raisi will be speaking at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly later this week, his first appearance at the annual gathering of world leaders.

Raisi, an ultraconservative cleric known for his hostility to the West, became president last year.

Israel considers Iran its greatest enemy and threat. Iran has long backed armed groups committed to Israel’s destruction. Its leaders have called for Israel to be wiped off the map and previously made statements that distort the history of the genocide that killed 6 million Jews or deny its existence.



6 Presumed Dead after Private Plane Crashes in Upstate New York

A New York Police Department scuba team looks for debris, Friday, April 11, 2025, where a sightseeing helicopter crashed a day earlier into the Hudson River in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A New York Police Department scuba team looks for debris, Friday, April 11, 2025, where a sightseeing helicopter crashed a day earlier into the Hudson River in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
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6 Presumed Dead after Private Plane Crashes in Upstate New York

A New York Police Department scuba team looks for debris, Friday, April 11, 2025, where a sightseeing helicopter crashed a day earlier into the Hudson River in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A New York Police Department scuba team looks for debris, Friday, April 11, 2025, where a sightseeing helicopter crashed a day earlier into the Hudson River in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A twin-engine plane that crashed into a muddy field in upstate New York has left all six passengers aboard presumed dead.
The plane, a Mitsubishi MU-2B, was reported down at noon on Saturday in Copake, New York, around 30 miles (48 kilometers) from its destination at the Columbia County Airport, The Associated Press reported.
All six people who were aboard the plane were presumed dead, according to an official familiar with the crash, who could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Columbia County Undersheriff Jacqueline Salvatore on Saturday confirmed the crash was fatal but declined to reveal how many people died.
“It’s in the middle of a field and it’s pretty muddy, so accessibility is difficult,” Salvatore said during a news conference near the scene, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Albany.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it had deployed an investigation team. They were expected to provide additional details about the investigation Sunday afternoon.