Silence about antisemitism and anti-Israel animus was complicity, former Paraguay president Horacio Cartes warned at the International Conference on Combating Antisemitism on Thursday, adding that the treatment of the Jewish people led to further evil throughout history.
Israel’s cause was not just the cause of a state but that of liberty and self-determination, said Cartes. Treatment of the Jews has been a “moral thermometer of history.”
Consequently, there were “moments in history when silence is not neutrality, but complicity,” Cartes said.
The former president decried double standards against the state of Israel, such as those denying the Jewish state the right to exist or defend itself. Telling the only Jewish state whether or not it could have its government in Jerusalem was “not diplomacy, that is antisemitism.”
Cartes said he had been happy to see the moving of the Paraguay embassy to Jerusalem during his tenure, and though this had been reversed, the current Paraguayan government had been making signals that it may return the embassy to the Israeli capital.
The conference was an opportunity to tell the truth about antisemitism and to recommit to standing against the hatred of Jews, said Cartes.
Cartes addresses hostages in Hamas captivity
While he was happy to participate, Cartes also turned his thoughts to the captives held by Hamas and prayed for their return to their families.
“Paraguay feels your pain, but also your hope,” said Cartes, further explaining that this hope was one for peace in Israel.
The ex-president promised that Israel would not stand alone “as long as there were leaders of conviction.”
“Long live the friendship between the people of Israel and Paraguay,” said Cartes.