Forum Post: Israeli Minister Admits Ahmadinejad Never Said Israel Should Be "Wiped Off the Map"

Israeli Minister Admits Ahmadinejad Never Said Israel Should Be "Wiped Off the Map"

A top Israeli official has acknowledged that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad never said that Iran seeks to "wipe Israel off the face of the map." The falsely translated statement has been widely attributed to Ahmadinejad and used repeatedly by U.S. and Israeli government officials to back military action and sanctions against Iran. But speaking to Teymoor Nabili of the network Al Jazeera, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor admitted Ahmadinejad had been misquoted.

Teymoor Nabili: As we know Ahmadinejad didn’t say that he plans to exterminate Israel, nor did he say that Iran’s policy is to exterminate Israel. Ahmadinejad’s position and Iran’s position always has been — they have said this many times that he has no plans to attack Israel. He simply said if you hold a referendum in this part of the world and everyone who lives here, he will accept the outcome of the referendum.

Dan Meridor: "I happen to disagree, with all due respect. You speak of Ahmadinejad, I speak of [several Iranian leaders]. They all come basically ideologically, religiously with the statement that Israel is an unnatural creature, it will not survive. They didn’t say, ’We’ll wipe it out,’ you are right. But [that] it will not survive, it is a cancerous tumor, it should be removed, they said just two weeks ago again."

Teymoor Nabili: "Well, I am glad you acknowledged they didn’t say they will wipe it out."