Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said he’s convinced that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under the influence of a demonic being.

The leader of the Central American state told Globovision, “Prime Minister Netanyahu appears to be possessed by the devil. He needs Pope Francis to exorcise it…”

Ortega continued, claiming that the Jewish state of Israel was “committing genocide” in Gaza akin to “the crimes of the Nazis.”

Genocide is defined as “the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group.” If Ortega’s claim that Israel is trying to “commit genocide” on the Palestinian population is indeed the correct hypothesis, the Israelis are doing a really poor job at carrying out the deed. Since the State of Israel’s inception, the Palestinian population has grown from just under one million to over ten million people.

Ortega said, “Why doesn’t anyone condemn or sanction the state of Israel?” Netanyahu wants to “annihilate the Palestinian people,” he continued.

Ortega rules Nicaragua as the leader of the hard-left Sandinista National Liberation Front Party. He has served as President of the Central American state during four different decades.

The American Enterprise Institute’s Roger Noriega said of Ortega’s continuing rule in Nicaragua:

Ortega has used fraudulent elections to win control of state institutions and to engineer changes to the Nicaraguan constitution that would allow him to seek a 3rd consecutive term in 2016. Coupled with a change he secured years ago requiring the winning candidate to win a mere 35% of the votes cast, the Sandinista caudillo seems assured of a fourth term in office. With the approval of this latest rules change by a 64-25 vote in the Nicaraguan National Assembly, the democratic opposition is left scrambling to respond. In addition to eliminating the limit on presidential reelection, the president is empowered to rule by decree without legislative approval.