NEW YORK, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Israel says the Council of Foreign Relations made a "terrible mistake" by inviting Iran's president to speak to the group in New York this week.
Inviting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was "worse" than if the council had invited Adolf Hitler to speak in the 1930s, Ambassador Daniel Ayalon said in a letter to Council President Richard Haass, The New York Times reported.
It was worse because "Hitler did not openly call for genocide," Ayalon said. He added the talk gave Ahmadinejad an unwarranted legitimacy.
Ahmadinejad spoke to about two dozen members of the council for nearly two hours Wednesday evening and many Jewish groups refused to attend.
Haass said "two hours of give and take" did not give Ahmadinejad legitimacy. They simply reflected "the fact that he is president and our nations have a lot of problems to talk out," he said.
