Netanyahu on Iran: West Missed Lesson of Holocaust

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stark warning in his Holocaust Remembrance Day address Wednesday evening.

Quoting the prophet Isaiah, he said, "For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples," saying, "The determination and lessons that were acquired in blood 70 years ago are now dissipating, and the darkness and fog of denying reality are taking their place."

Iran wants to wipe out the Jewish state, just as the Nazis tried to annihilate the Jewish people.

"Six million of our people were slaughtered and tens of millions more killed in the terrible inferno," Netanyahu said at Jerusalem's Yad VaShem Holocaust Museum.

"The Nazis sought to crush civilization and have a master race rule the Earth while destroying the Jewish people. In that same way, Iran seeks to dominate the region and to spread outward from there, with the declared intention of destroying the Jewish state."

Netanyahu said the framework deal brokered by U.S.-led world powers failed to rein in Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions.

"Appeasement toward these regimes increases their aggressiveness. If this aggressiveness is not curbed in time, humanity may find itself in far greater wars in the future," Netanyahu warned.

As occurs each year, six Holocaust survivors participated in the ceremonies, each lighting one memorial candle.

The annual observance is one of the most solemn on Israel's calendar. Restaurants, cafes and places of entertainment close and television programming features Holocaust stories.

Click here for a translation of Netanyahu's remarks.