Tunis – Tunisian President Kais Saied made antisemitic remarks Monday evening, claiming that a secret “Zionist” influence was evident in the name given to Storm Daniel, the deadly storm that wreaked havoc earlier this month in Libya, Greece and elsewhere.
Storm Daniel, the deadliest Mediterranean storm ever recorded, killed over 3,000 people in Libya floods, with over 10,000 others still missing.
“Did they not wonder about the naming? Daniel is a Hebrew prophet,” Saied said in video remarks from his office carried by local media.
Abraham is the biblical patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Islam, in which he is known as Ibrahim. It is a popular name in Israel and in the Arab world.
Daniel is also a popular Hebrew name today, and is common in the West as well.
Storm Daniel was named by Greece’s Hellenic National Meteorological Service.
