Ahmadinejad: Israelis should go back to "countries of origin"

Sep 18, 2008, 14:47 GMT

Tehran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday that Iran had nothing against Israeli Jews but called on them to return to their 'countries of origin.'

'Although we distinguish between the people (Jews living in Israel) and the Zionist (Israeli) regime, but we neither acknowledge an Israeli government nor a nation,' Ahmadinejad said in a press conference in Tehran.

'We have no problems with these people (Israelis) but they should leave the occupied territories, leave them to their genuine owners and get back to their countries and homes where they originally came from,' he added.

Ahmadinejad has attracted international condemnation in the last three years with his anti-Israeli tirades and by doubting the historical dimensions of the Holocaust in the Second World War. He has however constantly rejected anti-Semitism charges.

'The Holocaust is a lie and the real Holocaust is happening to the Palestinians,' he said Thursday, reiterating his antagonistic approach towards the Holocaust.

Ahmadinejad reiterated that Iran would never acknowledge the sovereignty of the Israeli state and stand besides the Palestinians 'both politically and spiritually' until liberation of their occupied territories.

'The Zionist regime (Israel) is going towards its final collapse after 60 years of aggression. The final solution would be a referendum on Palestine's future fate with the participation of all Palestinians, regardless of whether Moslems, Jews or Christians,' he said.

Ahmadinejad did not comment on the election of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as the new leader of Israel's ruling Kadima party.