World leaders send Hanukkah greetings

‘May your candles burn bright and your season be full of peace and happiness’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were among first foreign leaders who sent Hanukkah greetings on Sunday as Jews around the world began celebrating the eight-day “festival of lights.”

Erdogan took the opportunity to speak out against antisemitism and Islamophobia, saying that the unity shown by Turkish society is an example against xenophobia.

“On the occasion of Hanukkah, I wholeheartedly congratulate our citizens of Jewish faith. Our Jewish citizens, with whom we live together in a strong sense of unity, solidarity and belonging, are an inseparable part of our society, as has been the case in the past,” the president said in a statement issued in English.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who over the years has forged a personal friendship with Israel’s incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, tweeted his Hanukkah greetings in English and Hebrew.

“Happy Hanukkah to my friend Netanyahu, to my friends in Israel and to those who celebrate this festival of lights around the world,” he wrote.

The U.S. State Department wished “Happy Hanukkah to all of you who celebrate.”

“May your candles burn bright and your season be full of peace and happiness,” they tweeted. 

The UAE Embassy in Israel, which wrote a tweet in Hebrew, extended its “warmest wishes to the people of Israel on the occasion of Hanukkah and wishes everyone a holiday of light and brotherhood.”

The European Union Mission to Israel also tweeted in Hebrew but limited its message to a simple “Happy Holidays.”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky recorded a video with the Hanukkah story, in which he referred to his country’s ongoing fight against the Russian invasion.

“The few defeated the many, light defeated darkness. Thus it will also be this time,” Zelensky said before wishing his viewers “Happy Hanukkah” in Hebrew.

Earlier on Sunday evening, Ukrainian Jews gathered for prayers and candlelight vigils in Kyiv’s famous Independence Square, also known as Maidan, where “the largest menorah” (a nine-branched candelabrum) in Europe was lit by Israel’s ambassador to Ukraine along with other foreign envoys.