Netanyahu associate at meeting with Iranian FM
French Jewish MP attended parliamentary meeting with Foreign Minister Zarif during the latter's latest visit to France. They discussed the Holocaust, Israel, Iran's infamous cartoon contest, and more.
The two had an interesting dialogue, with Habib asking Zarif difficult questions. "I'm a Jew, and today is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Your country organizes a cartoon contest on Holocaust denial, and 70 years ago six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. Are you willing to publically acknowledge that there was a Holocaust?" Habib asked.
Habib added that he is a representative of 150,000 French people who live in Israel, "Your country calls to erase Israel off the map. Are you willing to publically recognize the existence of the State of Israel?"
According to others who attended the meeting, Zarif answered Habib by saying that the cartoon contest is not held in his name, or the name of the Iranian government, but is organized by unaffiliated associations. He argued that "the State of Israel is the one using the Holocaust to justify the occupation of the Palestinian people," mentioning Prime Minister Netanyahu's remarks about the meeting between the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, and Nazi Fuhrer Adolf Hitler, as evidence.
Zarif avoided addressing Iran's calls to wipe Israel off the map, and was not willing to publically recognize the State of Israel, but did say: "My friend Meyer Habib, we're not against Jews and there is even a Jew in the Iranian parliament. There are Jews who live in Iran. We're against the Zionist philosophy and the Zionist movement."
Following the meeting, Habib said that Zarif was a smart and courteous man. "I was very surprised by his tone," said Habib, "he's very talented and gentle, but at the same time cunning. Exactly the opposite of (former Iranian President) Ahmadinejad."
