Ban Ki-moon Image by Getty Images

JERUSALEM — United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon must publicly condemn Iran’s Holocaust denial and a cartoon contest that promotes it, Israel’s Knesset speaker said.

Yuli Edelstein in a letter dated Wednesday also called on Ban to take up the matter directly with Iran.

The Holocaust denial cartoon contest is sponsored by the Tehran municipality, according to reports.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“As head of an organization that in 2005 adopted the brave resolution to establish January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, I ask that you exert your moral authority through public condemnation of the Iranian policy and by addressing this matter directly with Iran, as well,” Edelstein wrote to Ban. “There are no words strong enough to describe the contempt and profound disdain of the State of Israel, the Israeli people and many others the world over, to Iran’s insistent Holocaust denial.”

Some 839 works were submitted to last year’s contest, in part a reaction to the controversy over the media portrayal of the prophet Muhammad, including by the Charlie Hebdo French satirical magazine, the target of a terrorist attack in January 2015 that killed 11 staffers. The winner of the contest received $50,000.

Edelstein also called on Israeli lawmakers to decry Holocaust denial on social media on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, sent a letter to Ban last week calling on him to condemn the cartoon competition.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount