I don’t think we should sensationalize one rabbi talking out his ass but there’s a lot of other data points. Itamar Ben-Gvir (Minister of National Security) and Yoav Gallant (Minister of Defense) say genocidal shit all the time. They’re not random rabbis. South Africa’s case before the ICJ included a lot of direct quotes from leading government officials.
And look: I know that Hamas and probably every other Islamic fundamentalist group’s leadership has said equally awful shit (and worse shit, for that matter). Some of the Israeli quotes came at an extremely traumatic moment. But this is bigger than one rabbi. I don’t think it’s be hard to establish intent if Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, and Gallant end up getting tried for war crimes.
Edit: I just want to add that most Israelis (and the Jewish diaspora) do not support the current government at this point. They were having mass protests before Hamas attacked.
It takes willful ignorance at this point to not recognize that both Likud and Hamas have influential representation frothing at the mouth at the idea of ethnic cleansing of the other side.
It certainly isn’t all Palestinians or Israelis, it might not even be all of Likud or Hamas.
But the fact there’s agents advocating genocidal actions within the governments of each side of the conflict is pretty much indisputable at this point.
The fact a humanitarian crisis has become such a tribalistic litmus test is pretty ridiculous and gross. (And I’m referring to both ‘sides’ of that tribalism in case anyone thinks this is a unilateral criticism.)
I don’t think we should sensationalize one rabbi talking out his ass but there’s a lot of other data points. Itamar Ben-Gvir (Minister of National Security) and Yoav Gallant (Minister of Defense) say genocidal shit all the time. They’re not random rabbis. South Africa’s case before the ICJ included a lot of direct quotes from leading government officials.
I don’t know anything about this organization — I just found this on Google — but an NGO called Law 4 Palestine apparently has a database that seems to cite sources pretty well. https://law4palestine.org/law-for-palestine-releases-database-with-500-instances-of-israeli-incitement-to-genocide-continuously-updated/
And look: I know that Hamas and probably every other Islamic fundamentalist group’s leadership has said equally awful shit (and worse shit, for that matter). Some of the Israeli quotes came at an extremely traumatic moment. But this is bigger than one rabbi. I don’t think it’s be hard to establish intent if Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, and Gallant end up getting tried for war crimes.
Edit: I just want to add that most Israelis (and the Jewish diaspora) do not support the current government at this point. They were having mass protests before Hamas attacked.
The he said/she said is getting really old.
It takes willful ignorance at this point to not recognize that both Likud and Hamas have influential representation frothing at the mouth at the idea of ethnic cleansing of the other side.
It certainly isn’t all Palestinians or Israelis, it might not even be all of Likud or Hamas.
But the fact there’s agents advocating genocidal actions within the governments of each side of the conflict is pretty much indisputable at this point.
The fact a humanitarian crisis has become such a tribalistic litmus test is pretty ridiculous and gross. (And I’m referring to both ‘sides’ of that tribalism in case anyone thinks this is a unilateral criticism.)