Ambassador faces punishment after Nazi-quoting post
Foreign Ministry opens disciplinary proceedings after envoy to Switzerland shares Facebook post featuring quote by Hermann Goering that appears to criticize the Israeli government.
The Foreign Ministry has opened disciplinary proceedings against its ambassador in Switzerland, Yigal Caspi, after the envoy posted an image on Facebook featuring a quote by Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering uttered during the Nuremberg trials about how people can be forced to submit to its leaders through declarations that they are under attack.
Ambassador Caspi apologized and immediately removed the post, but the ministry decided to go ahead with disciplinary proceedings, summoning him to Israel.
Caspi shared on his private Facebook page the post by another Facebook user featuring the quote translated into Hebrew. The quote reads: "Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peace makers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." The author of the past added: "We're on the right path…"
Goering was the most powerful person in the Nazi regime besides Hitler, and has been considered a very central actor in the Holocaust. He was sentenced to death at the Nuremberg Trials, but committed suicide with a cyanide capsule shortly before the sentence was carried out.
This was not the first time Caspi has encountered trouble because of social media posts. In February, then-foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman ordered the suspension of Caspi and two other diplomats after they posted political opinions on their Twitter accounts.
Among Caspi's tweets were one criticizing Lieberman and another rebuking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address in the US Congress. Lieberman ordered a hearing that could have ended in Caspi's removal from the role, but he was ultimately only reprimanded.
