The Holocaust has become a central theme of Benjamin Netanyahu’s rhetoric and his diplomatic struggle to block Iran’s nuclear program ever since he returned to power in 2009. As part of an effort “to prevent a second Holocaust,” the Israeli prime minister has been active in the diplomatic arena, while at the same time making military preparations to contend with the Iranian nuclear threat. One step he took, as former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert revealed, was to invest 11 billion shekels (just over $3 billion) in a plan that was ultimately shelved.

There was hardly a speech delivered by Netanyahu during these years — whether in Israel or the most prestigious forums in the world — in which he did not exploit for propaganda purposes the silence of the world powers during World War II, while the Jewish people were being annihilated, to make Israel’s case. The comparison is clear: Given the indulgent attitude of the world powers toward Iran today and the clear preference of the West to find a diplomatic solution, Israel must adopt a proactive approach to defend itself against Iran.

Everything that Netanyahu did in those years implied that he was acting out of a conscious need to become the one to prevent a second Holocaust. Yet, those same years were also the period in which the economic, medical and emotional state of Holocaust survivors living in Israel kept declining because of their advanced age alongside their physical and emotional scars from the war. Their medical costs have increased, and their ability to pay for treatments, medication, food and heating in winter has been reduced significantly. Social Security payments they receive are absorbed by the steep cost of living and cuts to pensions, implemented by none other than Netanyahu, as part of the economic decrees he devised as finance minister in 2003.

An abundance of reports in the media appeared about the outrageous poverty faced by Holocaust survivors, and the issue has risen to a place of prominence on the public agenda. Every so often demonstrations took place before the Knesset and government ministries requesting what seemed to be so obvious: that survivors be allowed to live their final years in dignity.