Related Links

●  Netanyahu standing by his comments as scholars blast his sources 

●  Netanyahu, Husseini, and the Historians by Jeff Herf

●  Account of the controversy in Haaretz

●  Historian Backs Netanyahu Over Mufti's Holocaust Role

●  Netanyahu doubles down on claim that Hitler got idea of Final Solution from a Palestinian 

Israeli historians and opposition politicians on Wednesday joined Palestinians in denouncing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel for saying it was a Palestinian, the grand mufti of Jerusalem, who gave Hitler the idea of annihilating European Jews during World War II.

Mr. Netanyahu said in a speech to the Zionist Congress on Tuesday night that “Hitler didn’t want to exterminate the Jews at the time, he wanted to expel the Jews,” according to a transcript provided by his office. The prime minister said that the mufti, Haj Amin al-Husseini, protested to Hitler that “they’ll all come here,” referring to Palestine.

“ ‘So what should I do with them?’ ” Mr. Netanyahu quoted Hitler as asking Mr. Husseini. “He said, ‘Burn them.’ ”