Ahmadinejad abides by Iran's long-standing policy of refusing to recognize Israel as a legitimate state, and wants the Jewish people who immigrated to Israel to return to their "fatherlands" (translated).

In 2005, Ahmadinejad, in  a speech praising the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, was translated by Iranian state-run media as saying that "Israel must be wiped off the map."
A controversy erupted over the translation, with specialists such as Juan Cole of the University of Michigan and  Arash Norouzi of the Mossadegh Project pointing out that the original statement in Farsi did not say that Israel should be wiped off the map, but instead that it would collapse.
The words  'Israel', 'map', and 'to wipe off'  are non-existent in the Iranian speech's original.
According to another IRNA translation, on the occasion of a commemoration of the anniversary of Khomeini's death on 3 June 2008, Ahmadinejad stated that "The corrupt element will be wiped off the map."
Contextually, Ahmadinejad was quoting Khomeini's words about the imminent disappearance of the Soviet Union and the Shah's regime, and tacked on his remarks concerning Israel.
In Katajun Amirpur's analysis, there is no implication in the text that Iran intended destroying Israel or annihilating the Jewish people, any more than Khomeini was suggesting with his words that the Russians, or the Iranian people themselves under the Shah would be extinguished.
Ahmadinejad is on the record as stating that Iran had no plans to attack Israel.
The statement itself was in fact a citation, with a minute verbal variation, of a remark made by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, which had created no furor at the time, but did so when Ahmadinejad quoted them in 2005.

Dan Meridor, Israel's minister of intelligence and atomic energy said during an Al Jazeera interview that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had repeatedly said "that Israel is an unnatural creature, it will not survive.
They didn't say, 'We'll wipe it out,' you're right, but, 'It will not survive.'"
adding "If Iran says this, and continues to pile up uranium that they enrich, and build missiles in big numbers, and have a nuclear military plan—if you put all this together, you can't say, they don't really mean it."
The Washington Post's fact-checker editor Glenn Kessler says the interpretation gets murkier when Ahmadinejad's quote is set against other Iranian propaganda.
Karim Sadjadpour, an Iranian specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, cites proof that the Iranian government releases propaganda that clearly says Israel should be "wiped off."
Joshua Teitelbaum of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs discovered pictures of Iranian propaganda banners that clearly say in English: "Israel should be wiped out of the face of the world."
In March 2016, Iran tested a ballistic missile painted with the phrase "Israel should be wiped off the Earth" in Hebrew.
The missile is reported to be capable of reaching Israel.

The Official Web site of the President of Iran quoted Ahmadinejad as saying on 15 May 2011 "The reason for our insistence that the Zionist regime should be wiped out and vanished is that the Zionist regime is the main base for imposing oppression and harbors the main terrorists of the world."

He was strongly criticized after claiming that the Jews invented the Holocaust and making other statements influenced by "classic anti-Semitic ideas," which has led to accusations of antisemitism.
Ahmadinejad denied that he was an antisemite, saying that he "respects Jews very much" and that he was not "passing judgment" on the Holocaust.
Later, Ahmadinejad claimed that promoting Holocaust denial was a major achievement of his presidency; he stated that "put[ting] it forward at the global level ... broke the spine of the Western capitalist regime".
The comments appeared on the Arabic but not on the English version of Fars News Agency's website.
Ahmadinejad abides by Iran's long-standing policy of refusing to recognize Israel as a legitimate state, and wants the Jewish people who immigrated to Israel to return to their "fatherlands" (translated).
In 2005, Ahmadinejad, in  a speech praising the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, was translated by Iranian state-run media as saying that "Israel must be wiped off the map." A controversy erupted over the translation, with specialists such as Juan Cole of the University of Michigan and  Arash Norouzi of the Mossadegh Project pointing out that the original statement in Farsi did not say that Israel should be wiped off the map, but instead that it would collapse. The words  'Israel', 'map', and 'to wipe off'  are non-existent in the Iranian speech's original. According to another IRNA translation, on the occasion of a commemoration of the anniversary of Khomeini's death on 3 June 2008, Ahmadinejad stated that "The corrupt element will be wiped off the map." Contextually, Ahmadinejad was quoting Khomeini's words about the imminent disappearance of the Soviet Union and the Shah's regime, and tacked on his remarks concerning Israel. In Katajun Amirpur's analysis, there is no implication in the text that Iran intended destroying Israel or annihilating the Jewish people, any more than Khomeini was suggesting with his words that the Russians, or the Iranian people themselves under the Shah would be extinguished. Ahmadinejad is on the record as stating that Iran had no plans to attack Israel. The statement itself was in fact a citation, with a minute verbal variation, of a remark made by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, which had created no furor at the time, but did so when Ahmadinejad quoted them in 2005.
Dan Meridor, Israel's minister of intelligence and atomic energy said during an Al Jazeera interview that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had repeatedly said "that Israel is an unnatural creature, it will not survive. They didn't say, 'We'll wipe it out,' you're right, but, 'It will not survive.'" adding "If Iran says this, and continues to pile up uranium that they enrich, and build missiles in big numbers, and have a nuclear military plan—if you put all this together, you can't say, they don't really mean it." The Washington Post's fact-checker editor Glenn Kessler says the interpretation gets murkier when Ahmadinejad's quote is set against other Iranian propaganda. Karim Sadjadpour, an Iranian specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, cites proof that the Iranian government releases propaganda that clearly says Israel should be "wiped off." Joshua Teitelbaum of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs discovered pictures of Iranian propaganda banners that clearly say in English: "Israel should be wiped out of the face of the world." In March 2016, Iran tested a ballistic missile painted with the phrase "Israel should be wiped off the Earth" in Hebrew. The missile is reported to be capable of reaching Israel.
The Official Web site of the President of Iran quoted Ahmadinejad as saying on 15 May 2011 "The reason for our insistence that the Zionist regime should be wiped out and vanished is that the Zionist regime is the main base for imposing oppression and harbors the main terrorists of the world."
He was strongly criticized after claiming that the Jews invented the Holocaust and making other statements influenced by "classic anti-Semitic ideas," which has led to accusations of antisemitism. Ahmadinejad denied that he was an antisemite, saying that he "respects Jews very much" and that he was not "passing judgment" on the Holocaust. Later, Ahmadinejad claimed that promoting Holocaust denial was a major achievement of his presidency; he stated that "put[ting] it forward at the global level ... broke the spine of the Western capitalist regime". The comments appeared on the Arabic but not on the English version of Fars News Agency's website.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad