Netanyahu hits out at Brazil's Lula for comparing war on Gaza to Holocaust

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva compared Israel's killing of Palestinians in Gaza to the Nazi genocide against Jews during World War Two, sparking Israeli backlash. 

"What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people has no parallel in other historical moments. In fact, it did exist when Hitler decided to kill the Jews," Lula said on Sunday during the 37th African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. 

The Israeli foreign ministry said it would summon the Brazilian ambassador over the remarks, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labelled as "disgraceful and grave". 

"This is a trivialisation of the Holocaust and an attempt to attack the Jewish people and the right of Israel to self-defence. Drawing comparisons between Israel and the Nazis and Hitler is to cross a red line," Netanyahu said.