President Rodrigo Duterte
Photo: Reuters
Philippine president apologizes for Hitler comments
Seeking to repair frayed relations with the Jewish community after drawing offensive Hitler comparison, Philippine president visits synagogue in Manila on Rosh Hashanah: ‘Please accept my apology. It won’t happen again.’
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte continued to apologize for his recent statements which offended the Jewish community by visiting the Beit Ya’akov synagogue on Rosh Hashanah in Manila.
The president caused outrage after saying that he was happy to slaughter three million drug addicts in the same way Hitler was happy to murder Jews. "Hitler massacred 3 million Jews ... there's 3 million drug addicts. There are. I'd be happy to slaughter them."
Shortly after, the president said that he did not mean to cause offense and that he only drew the comparison to ridicule those who have compared him to Nazis.
During the visit to the synagogue, Duterte apologized to the Jewish community leaders and Ambassador Effie (Ephraim) Ben Matityau.
President Rodrigo Duterte visits synagogue in Manila (Photo: AFP)
In a report sent by the ambassador to the Foreign Ministry about the meeting, Matityau wrote that Duterte said that he cherishes the Jewish people and Israel and he rejects racism. Moreover, in an effort to ingratiate himself with the community, he claimed that his wife has a Jewish father.
Duterte added that he views Israel as a loyal friend and had instructed his ministers to acquire security equipment from the country. “Please, accept my apology. It won’t happen again. We will always be friends,” he concluded.
Prior to his visit to the synagogue, the Philippine president said, “I would like to apologize and it comes from the heart," adding that in hindsight, he understood that he caused anger among the international Jewish community.
“I want to clarify, here and now, that I never intended to insult the memory of the six million who were killed in the Holocaust,” Duterte said during a live televised speech. “I was talking about myself—that I, allegedly, am Hitler who killed lots of people.”
