Postal Company asked to issue stamp with swastika

A young man from Haifa recently approached the Israel Postal Company and asked that it issue a stamp bearing his image wearing a black shirt, with a swastika sign on his left arm.

In the photo, the young man also has a Hitler-style mustache.

The Postal Company provides a service called "My stamp" in which it each person can send the company their photo and receive a sheet of stamps bearing the picture, which can then be used when sending letters. The service is available to all people and stamps can be ordered via the internet.

Immediately after receiving the file with the swastika photo, it was transferred to the Postal Company's security department and a complaint was filed with the police.

Postal Company CEO Avi Hochman told Ynet following the incident, "It appears that people can get away with anything, and this feels bad. Such a stamp can be bought via the internet. The request arrived through the web like any other request.

"When I first saw the picture I was shocked. I am the son of Holocaust survivors. My father was the only survivor out of 11 brothers, and this thing was absolutely shocking. We are the members of the Jewish people and the Holocaust destroyed us, not only the Holocaust generation but the generation that followed, and I am one of them. We cannot ignore such a thing.

"We have issued thousands of stamps so far and I never encountered such a blatant request on my desk. I hope this is an isolated incident. We at the Israel Postal Company will not be part of such a criminal act."

Meanwhile Sunday, police arrested a 13.5-year-old boy on suspicion of spray-painting swastikas on a house being renovated in the city of Safed about three weeks ago. The boy claimed that he had committed the act as a prank.

Safed police commander, Superintendent Amos Shimoni, said following the arrest, "The boy said that he had seen a similar drawing on his brother's palm, and then spray-painted it on the house's wall."