World Jewish Congress and the US War Department. The year was 1944. The World Jewish Congress implored the American government to bomb Auschwitz. The reply came five days later. I want to read it to you: “Such an operation could be executed only by diverting considerable air support essential to the success of our forces elsewhere... and in any case would be of such doubtful efficacy that it would not warrant the use of our resources”... And here's the most remarkable sentence of all. And I quote: "Such an effort might provoke even more vindictive action by the Germans." Think about that – "even more vindictive action” — than the Holocaust." - Meaning and context.">
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They say that a military confrontation with Iran would undermine the efforts already underway, that it would be ineffective, and that it would provoke even more vindictive action by Iran. I've heard these arguments before. In fact, I've read them before. In my desk, I have copies of an exchange of letters between the World Jewish Congress and the US War Department. The year was 1944. The World Jewish Congress implored the American government to bomb Auschwitz. The reply came five days later. I want to read it to you: “Such an operation could be executed only by diverting considerable air support essential to the success of our forces elsewhere... and in any case would be of such doubtful efficacy that it would not warrant the use of our resources”... And here's the most remarkable sentence of all. And I quote: "Such an effort might provoke even more vindictive action by the Germans." Think about that – "even more vindictive action” — than the Holocaust.

— Benjamin Netanyahu

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "They say that a military confrontation with Iran would undermine the efforts already underway, that it would be ineffective, and that it would provoke even more vindictive action by Iran. I've heard these arguments before. In fact, I've read them before. In my desk, I have copies of an exchange of letters between the World Jewish Congress and the US War Department. The year was 1944. The World Jewish Congress implored the American government to bomb Auschwitz. The reply came five days later. I want to read it to you: “Such an operation could be executed only by diverting considerable air support essential to the success of our forces elsewhere... and in any case would be of such doubtful efficacy that it would not warrant the use of our resources”... And here's the most remarkable sentence of all. And I quote: "Such an effort might provoke even more vindictive action by the Germans." Think about that – "even more vindictive action” — than the Holocaust." in the context of "Speech at AIPAC Policy Conference in March 2012 http://www.aipac.org/pc/videos/2012/monday-gala-plenary/prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Benjamin Netanyahu" (Quotes, 2010s, 2012) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed February 03, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Benjamin Netanyahu

About Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949), often called "Bibi", is an Israeli politician who has served as the 9th prime minister of Israel since 29 December 2022 (he was previously in office from 31 March 2009 to 13 June 2021) and is chairman of the Israeli Likud Party.

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