Amid the ongoing row about filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’, Israel’s ambassador to India Naor Gilon on Saturday shared a post on Twitter along with a screenshot of a message he had allegedly received, calling Hitler “great” for the holocaust. Gilon was pulled into the controversy when he publicly denounced Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid’s remarks calling the movie – which revolves around the 1990 massacre and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley – “propaganda” and “vulgar”.
“Just wanted to share one of a few DMs I got in this direction. According to his profile, the guy has a PhD. Even though he doesn’t deserve my protection, I decided to delete his identifying information,” the Israeli envoy tweeted while hiding the identity of the user in the message he shared.
The screenshot read: “Hitler was great when he burned down s**** like you. immediately and f*** off from India… Hitler was a great person”.
In a follow-up tweet, he thanked his well-wishers saying he was “touched” by the support he received.
“I’m touched by your support. The mentioned DM is in no way reflective of the friendship we enjoy in India, including on social media. Just wanted this to be a reminder that anti-Semitism sentiments exist, we need to oppose it jointly and maintain a civilized level of discussion,” he wrote.
The message he shared allegedly came days after Gilon’s reaction to Lapid’s comments at the government-organised International Film Festival of India in Goa. He even apologised to India in an ‘open letter’ on Twitter.
Gilon had said Lapid abused the Indian invitation to him to chair the judges’ panel in the “worst way”.
Lapid had said ‘The Kashmir Files’ was a “propaganda movie” that had no place at a film festival. His strong opinion drew a wave of criticism from people associated with the film, politicians, as well as the general public on social media.