Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the World Zionist Congress on Tuesday that the mufti of Jerusalem gave Adolf Hitler the idea for the Holocaust, prompting swift and widespread condemnation from serious people.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was quick to put the Nazi leader back on the hook, saying “Germany abides by its responsibility for the Holocaust.” And Israeli historians and politicians publicly denounced Netanyahu’s claim, comparing it to the rhetoric of conspiracy theorists.
“With this, Netanyahu joins a long line of people that we would call Holocaust deniers,” Moshe Zimmerman, a professor of German history at Hebrew University, told the New York Times.
At the same time, the wheels of Internet mockery got rolling, providing a lighter take on the controversy. Here are seven of the best jabs.
1. Meet the soup mufti
נקרעתי
Posted by Iris Boker on Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Everyone knows the iconic soup Nazi character from the sitcom “Seinfeld.” If the mufti really had the impact on history that Netanyahu suggested, would we be using his title interchangeably with “Nazi”?
2. Hitler doesn’t take the news well
Hitler Finds Out That Bibi Thinks the Grand Mufti Convinced Hitler to Kill JewsYou knew it was coming…Hitler Finds Out That Bibi Thinks the Grand Mufti Convinced Hitler to Kill Jews
Posted by Rabbi Eliyahu Fink on Wednesday, October 21, 2015
A oft-parodied scene from the German film “Downfall” — depicting an angry Hitler ranting about the imminent demise of the Third Reich — has already garnered millions of views. In Rabbi Eliyahu Fink’s version, Hitler is very jealous of the mufti.
3. The Nazi leader as an impressionable guy
#netanyahu #muftichangedmymind (credit: @brown_johnbrown) pic.twitter.com/gVMIBTD8RP
— Dimi Reider (@dimireider) October 21, 2015
According to this guy, Hitler just got a little carried away with a suggestion from a friend.
4. The Yoko Ono theory
It’s time we found who really broke up The Beatles. (Shira Glezerman) https://t.co/hWJUWZsQfF #Netanyahu pic.twitter.com/QBpPerUC06
— melis hafez (@melis_hafez) October 21, 2015
We finally know who really broke up The Beatles.
5. It was the mufti all along
Posted by Oren Gamchi on Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Will the real Adolf Hitler please stand up?
6. Lesson learned
Posted by Michal Weiss on Wednesday, October 21, 2015
If Bart Simpson writes something on the chalkboard enough times, it almost seems true.
7. The mufti won’t stop
I think the #Mufti told #Biden not to run. #MuftiMadeMeDoIt
— Ami Kaufman (@AmiKaufman) October 21, 2015
Someone had to connect the Netanyahu controversy with Joe Biden’s announcement on Wednesday that he will not seek the Democratic presidential nomination.
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