The acting Chinese ambassador to Israel compared the country’s coronavirus travel bans to Jews being denied entry to other countries during the Holocaust.
Dai Yuming said Sunday that efforts by Israel to stop Chinese citizens from entering the country are similar to “the old days, the old stories that happened in World War Two, the Holocaust, the darkest days in human history.”
“Millions of Jewish were killed, and many, many Jewish were refused when they tried to seek assistance from other countries. Only very, very few countries opened their door, and among them is China,” Dai said, according to the New York Post.
Israel has stopped direct flights to China and gave border officials the authority to deny non-Israelis who have recently been to China entry into the country. Israelis who have returned from China are also being quarantined in their homes for two weeks after they return in a bid to tamp down the spread of the virus.
Following Dai’s Holocaust comments, the Chinese Embassy in Israel released a statement apologizing for the remarks.
“There was no intention whatsoever to compare the dark days of the Holocaust with the current situation and the efforts taken by the Israeli government to protect its citizens,” the statement read. “We would like to apologize if someone understood our message the wrong way.”
As of Monday, there are more than 17,000 confirmed cases from the rapidly spreading outbreak. The Chinese Health Commission said that 361 people have died from the virus, a larger number than the SARS outbreak in 2002 and 2003.
The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global public health emergency.
