Germany and Israel in a joint statement: We demand Peru's President withdraw his "offensive" statements about Jews

A joint statement signed by the Israeli and German ambassadors and published by the Israeli embassy in Peru stated: "We expect President Balcázar to withdraw his statements."

It indicated that the claim that Jews allegedly controlled German trade and banking system and "pushed" the country into war is a "ridiculous and historically indefensible" claim and also insults the memory of millions of Jewish victims of Nazism.

The statement added: "We must remember that Adolf Hitler and the Nazis were the ones who started World War II by attacking Poland in 1939."

The statement also affirmed that the Nazi ideology, based on racism and antisemitism, led to the extermination of 6 million Jews, and the Holocaust cannot be distorted or diminished under any circumstances.

This statement comes in response to Balcázar's speech on 28 April at an event held at the Lima Chamber of Commerce, where he spoke, citing historical processes, about the role of Jews in the German economy and indicated that they partially contributed to dragging the country into war.

The President's statements initially did not receive much attention, but were later published in the media and drew criticism from the country's Jewish community.