Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says attacks on Christians in Nigeria must come to an end immediately.
Netanyahu stated this in his Christmas message late Wednesday night.
While felicitating Christians, Netanyahu decried global persecution of the sister faith, citing Middle Eastern countries of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey.
Outside the region, Nigeria was named. Like US President Donald Trump, his closest ally, Netanyahu blamed Islamists for the attacks.
“The persecution of Christians or members of any religion cannot and must not be tolerated, and Muslim militant displacement and attacks against Christians in Nigeria, that too must end, and it must end now,” the Israeli PM said.
Concluding his Christmas message, Netanyahu said Israel would always stand with Christians around the world.
Israel is the only country to publicly side with the U.S on its claim of a “Christian persecution” in Nigeria.
Other international bodies like the European Union (EU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have condemned violence in Nigeria, and framed the situation as a broader security challenge rather than targeted religious persecution.
However, Trump re-designated Nigeria a ‘country of particular concern’ in response to allegations of a Christian genocide in the country.
The US president equally threatened military intervention if the Nigerian government, whom he labelled as complicit, failed to act swiftly.
