Israeli Official Incitement: December 2023

I. Against the Palestinian People /Endorsing Genocide in Gaza

Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister, MK for Likud Party (Israel Foreign Ministry Website, 24 December)

“This is a battle, not only of Israel against these barbarians, it's a battle of civilization against barbarism. And I know in this that we have your support (…)”

Itamar Ben Gvir, Minister of National Security, MK for Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) Party (Twitter, 19 December 2023).

“My conversation with the Chief of Staff last night was respectful but incisive: I demanded, and I demand even now that the soldiers who called “Shemaa Yisrael”[1] in the mosque, to be returned to activity immediately, and not to harm the morale of the IDF[2] soldiers who are fighting for all of us. In my opinion, the decision to remove them from service hurts all IDF soldiers!”

Hanoch Milwidsky, MK for Likud Party (Twitter, 18 December 2023)[3]

“We are fully committed to enacting a law to deport families of the terrorists[4]! And if the Supreme Court want to overturn the law, let it overturn.”

Tally Gotliv, MK for Likud Party (Twitter, 18 December 2023).

“Any Gazan who dares to stay in combat zones is an enemy. Any Gazan who dares to stay despite the IDF’s calls to leave is an enemy. There are no innocents there and there are no uninvolved there. All Gazans who remain there are helping Hamas harm our soldiers. They are mortal. Shell artillery with high intensity mercilessly! We are not a star on the US flag. We are in a war of existence. We must not forget.”

Itamar Ben Gvir, Minister of National Security, MK for Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) Party (Twitter, 17 December 2023)

“I turned to the head of the MLA Tzachi Hanegbi to urgently convene the policy-security cabinet and discuss the approved decision to open the Kerem Shalom[5] crossing for the entry of goods into the Gaza Strip. It is not possible that goods and tens of millions of shekels will be transferred to the enemy based on a telephone poll without a vote. I strongly oppose these decisions!”

David Azoulai, Head of the Matoula Council in an Interview with Israeli Radio 103 FM (Jpost, 17 December)

"After October 7, instead of urging people to go south, we should direct them to the beaches. The Navy can transport them to the shores of Lebanon, where there are already sufficient refugee camps. Then, a security strip should be established from the sea to the Gaza border fence, completely empty, as a reminder of what was once there. It should resemble the Auschwitz concentration camp. Tell everyone in Gaza to go to the beaches. Navy ships should load the terrorists onto the shores of Lebanon. The entire Gaza Strip should be emptied and leveled flat, just like in Auschwitz. Let it become a museum, showcasing the capabilities of the State of Israel and dissuading anyone from living in the Gaza Strip. This is what must be done to give them a visual representation. We should leave Gaza desolate and destroyed to serve as a museum, demonstrating the madness of the people who lived there."

Itamar Ben Gvir, Minister of National Security, MK for Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) Party (Twitter, 16 December 2023)

“I spoke this evening with the MAGAV[6] fighter, an outstanding officer who is suspected of attacking a Hamas supporting photographer[7] in East Jerusalem last Friday. I took his hand strongly and informed him that I would work to restore him to operational activity as soon as the nine days of his suspension, that was decided by the MAHASH[8], were over. We must not judge fighters “under laboratory conditions”!”

Tally Gotliv, MK for Likud Party (Twitter, 14 December 2023)

“I want to hear fighter jets flying in the sky towards Gaza all the time! Like at the beginning of the war. The shelling that shook the skies of the northern Gaza Strip. The exact same noises. It seems too quiet to me lately. The fate of Khan Younis and Shuja’iyya is the fate of the north of the Gaza Strip. A Gazan terrorist[9] that does not evacuate is responsible for his death. Our brave and spirited soldiers will maneuver only after shelling from the air.”

Yoav Gallant, Minister of Defense (Ynet, 14 December)

“After making the northern part of the Gaza strip inhabitable - the campaign will last for months to come and include the southern area of the strip."

Avigdor Lieberman, MK for Yisrael Beiteinu Party (Twitter, 14 December 2023).

“I hope that the opening of Kerem Shalom crossing for security checks of trucks, carrying “humanitarian aid” to Gaza strip is not a preparation for its reopening to transfer goods from Israel to Gaza Strip. We must make it clear that from now on, the day after the war, there will be no more crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip, not the Kerem Shalom crossing or the Erez crossing[10], not the passing of goods, and certainly not of workers - simply complete disconnection, with no electricity supply, and no water supply. We must stand for it, and make sure that what was will not be anymore.”

Danny Danon, MK for Likud Party (Twitter, 13 December 2023)

“Wasn’t it possible to send D9[11] to flatten the buildings before we send our soldiers, our children, inside to fight?”

Arieh King, deputy mayor of the so-called Jerusalem Municipality (Twitter, 8 December)[12]

“The IDF eliminates the Muslim Nazis in Gaza. We must increase the pace.[13] If I were the one to make the decision I would bring D-9R and put them behind mounds of dirt, and give an order to crush the hundreds of Nazis while they are still alive. They are not human beings and not human animals. They are subhumans, and that is how they should be treated. To delete the memory of Amalek[14]. We will not forget.”

Benny Gantz, Minister without portfolio, MK for National Unity Party (Twitter, 6 December 2023)

“Let us be clear and unequivocal - calling for an “Intifada”[15], a murderous insurgency perpetrating heinous acts of murder and sexual violence against innocent Israeli women and children - is not “free speech”. Chanting “from the river to the sea” openly calling for the destruction of the one and only Jewish State, is not “free speech”. Both are examples of dangerous violent hate speech and they must be treated as such.”

Michal Woldiger, MK for Religious Zionism Party (Twitter, 6 December 2023)

“Do not supply fuel to the enemy. The residents of Gaza brought this war upon themselves, and we must win and bring our abductees home. We have no other choice, and we have zero trust in them. I am going to express my protest to the chair[16] of my party. Supplying fuel to the Nazis[17] is an attack on the abductees, on national resilience, and on the moral standing of the people.”  

Amichai Eliyahu, Minister of Heritage, Member of Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) Party (Ynet report, 4 December 2023)[18]

“I call for verifying the killing of terrorists[19]. We need to reach a situation where they are not released later in various deals."

Amichai Eliyahu, Minister of Heritage, Member of Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) Party (Ynet, December 4)[20] 

“We need to reach a point where these terrorists die. We need to know that they are deterrent by us and that afterwards they won’t be released in all sorts of deals. We are a country that goes by the law and we’ll do what the law says but I will say that at the end of the day terrorists need to reach the creator[21] to account for their actions before the creator that needs to happen.”

Danny Danon, MK for Likud Party (Twitter, 4 December 2023)

“In the documentation[22] published by the IDF this evening, terrorists are seen hiding in buildings and ambushing our soldiers. We must take down the buildings from which the terrorists are shooting before sending in the IDF forces.”

 

II. Endorsing the Forcible Transfer of People in Gaza/Ethnic Cleansing 

Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Finance, Chairman of Religious Zionism Party (Israeli Radio Galtz, 31 December)

“If we act strategically correct they will emigrate and we will live in the Gaza strip. We won't allow a situation where we let 2 million people live there. If there are 100 to 200 thousand Arabs in Gaza, the day after debate will be different. They want to leave, they have been living in a ghetto for 75 years and are in need to leave."

Tally Gotliv, Member of Knesset (MK) for Likud Party (Twitter, 28 December 2023).

“(…) One should fearlessly declare occupation and control of the northern Gaza Strip while establishing military bases and settlements. This is what the enemy understands as his humiliation. Think outside the box.”

Michael Ben Ari, Former member of Knesset, a veteran Kahanist who was one of the founders of Ben Gvir's Jewish Power Party, (Twitter, 28 December)

“(…)As long as there are Arabs in Gaza the State of Israel is threatened. To eliminate Hamas is to eliminate Gaza, not to kill them, to send them around the World. Canada already said it is willing to accept them also countries in Africa remember the sentence: there is no Gaza and us it’s either Gaza or us! This is the humanitarian solution.”

Avigdor Lieberman, MK for Yisrael Beiteinu Party (Twitter, 27 December 2023)

“What happened in Gaza is that the Egyptians turned it into an Israeli problem, and we will not be able to deal with the Gaza problem alone. We need to make this a general issue, take care of our security, seize the Philadelphia Route, tear down the fences and dig in. As soon as there is no obstacle there, I estimate that one and a half million Gazans will leave for Sinai, and we will not disturb anyone