Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says attacks on Christians in Nigeria has to come to an end.
Netanyahu’s stance formed part of his Christmas message late
Wednesday night to Christians around the world.
Judaism, Israel’s main religion, and Christianity are deeply
linked Abrahamic faiths sharing roots in ancient Israel.
However, while Christians view Jesus as the Messiah, Jews
await his arrival. Christmas is the Christian celebration of Jesus’ birth.
Felicitating Christians, Netanyahu criticised global
persecution of the sister faith, citing Middle Eastern countries of Iraq,
Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey.
Outside the region, Nigeria was named. Like US President
Donald Trump, his closest ally, Netanyahu blamed Islamists for the attacks.
“The persecution of Christians or members of any religion
cannot and must not be tolerated, and Muslim militant displacement and attacks
against Christians in Nigeria, that too must end, and it must end now,” the
Israeli PM said.
This makes Israel the only country to publicly side with the
US on its claim of a “Christian persecution” in Nigeria.
Other international bodies like the European Union (EU) and
the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have condemned violence
in Nigeria and framed the situation as a broader security challenge rather than
targeted religious persecution.
However, Trump re-designated Nigeria a ‘country of
particular concern’ in response to allegations of a Christian genocide in the
country.
The US president also threatened military intervention if
the Nigerian government, whom he labelled as complicit, failed to act swiftly.
Concluding his Christmas message, Netanyahu said Israel
would always stand with Christians around the world.
In 2023, when the Israel-Hamas war commenced, Christmas day
in Bethlehem began with an attack on the Jenin refugee camp where at least 52
Palestinians were killed following Israel’s retaliatory attacks.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com