Tony Abbott
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (2nd L) speaks with sailors after arriving aboard the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier the USS Blue Ridge as it enters Sydney Harbour, Australia, July 3, 2015. The ship is in Australia to participate in the joint military exercise with Australian forces named 'Talisman Sabre' which begins next week. Reuters/Tim Hunter/Pool

Prime Minister Tony Abbott is at the receiving end of religious backlash after saying that Islamic State terrorists are worse than the Nazis. Australia's top Jewish group rounded on the prime minister, pointing out that such comparison was “injudicious and unfortunate.”

“The Nazis did terrible evil but they had sufficient sense of shame to try and hide it. These people boast about their evil. This is the extraordinary thing," Abbott recently told 2GB presenter Alan Jones.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry President Robert Goot called out Abbott following his statement. “Whilst there is no question that Islamic State is a profoundly evil organisation, the prime minister’s comments suggesting that it is in some respects worse than the Nazis were injudicious and unfortunate," he said.

Labour MP Michael Dandy was also upset on the minister's statement. “The Prime Minister does not need to exaggerate the power or criminality of Da’esh to demonstrate its barbarity," Dandy, who is also Jewish, said.

He said that there should not be a comparison between the two. He added that during “WWII, Nazi Germany killed over 20 million civilians, not including millions of soldiers on all sides who were devoured by Hitler’s war machine."

Later on, the prime minister issued a statement, saying, "I stand [by] what I said, not by the interpretation that other people might want to put on it."

He also said that Australia will be deciding whether or not to join the Syrian air strikes in the following week after Defence Minister Kevin Andrews is back from his trip overseas. The official emphasised that there are lots of possibilities when talking about how to defeat the “Daesh death cult.”

Furthermore, Australia's head denied claims that his administration was trying to spread fear about the Islamic State. Abbott pointed out that if people watch what is happening, people being burnt up and strung up alive are atrocious as they come. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, this is not the first time that the prime minister tried comparing the Islamic State to the Nazis. One year ago, he told 2GB’s Alan Jones a similar thing.

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