New Delhi: Israel’s ambassador to India, Naor Gilon, Saturday posted a screenshot of the anti-Semitic messages he had received on Twitter calling Adolf Hitler a “great person” and supporting the holocaust. In his tweet, Gilon withheld the identity of the person, writing “Even though he doesn’t deserve my protection, I decided to delete his identifying information.”
In a follow-up tweet, Naor Gilon said he was “touched” by the support he had received upon posting the message.
I’m touched by your support. The mentioned DM is in no way reflective of the friendship we enjoy in 🇮🇳, including on social media. Just wanted this to be a reminder that anti-Semitism sentiments exist, we need to oppose it jointly and maintain a civilized level of discussion🙏. https://t.co/y06JJNbKDN
— Naor Gilon (@NaorGilon) December 3, 2022
This comes after Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid’s comments on The Kashmir Files. Last month, Lapid, as chair of the jury at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, had called the film ‘vulgar’ and labelled it a ‘propaganda film’.
The next day, Gilon had apologised to India in an “open letter” on Twitter.
Gilon wrote that Lapid had “abused” the Indian invitation to chair the judges’ panel in the “worst way”.
“In Indian culture, they say that a guest is like God. You have abused in the worst way the Indian invitation to chair the panel of judges at @IFFIGoa as well as the trust, respect, and warm hospitality they have bestowed on you,” he added.
Lapid had also appeared in an interview with journalist Karan Thapar for The Wire portal, during which he said: “I feel ashamed of this reaction of an Israeli diplomat. I ask myself what this person who is already an experienced ambassador exactly was doing in the Democracy and Freedom of Speech classes…. I am an individual, not the property of this ambassador or the State of Israel, exactly as an Indian person is not the property of India.”
“If I see something, I feel something, I am not supposed to say the opposite in order to serve the interests of a state. It’s totally a fascistic idea,” Lapid added.
According to a Hindu report, Israel and India this year mark the 30th anniversary of establishment of bilateral relations between the two nations, which was formalised in 1992. It added that this is the first time that an envoy of the Jewish state has been targeted through hate speech.
Also read: Lapid criticised Kashmir Files. He knows how States used cinema for propaganda