Anti-Palestinian Racism & Extremism: Israeli Leaders in Their Own Words (Vol 4)

This edition includes senior religious leaders proclaiming “there are no innocent civilians” in war, calling for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and Lebanese, and for a Jewish synagogue and temple to be built in the Noble Sanctuary Mosque complex in occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam; The general in charge of Israel’s occupying army in the West Bank boasts that he has loosened the rules of engagement for his soldiers, who are killing and maiming more Palestinians, making many “limping monuments” in Palestinian villages, and explains that the military “discriminates” between Jewish settlers who throw rocks and Palestinians who do the same, shooting Palestinians but not the settlers; Senior government ministers declare Israel has been working to “flatten” southern Lebanon and call for the formal annexation of the occupied Palestinian West Bank and expansion of Israel’s borders into neighboring countries, the expansion of illegal settlements throughout the West Bank and Gaza, and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians out of the occupied territories; The Chief Superintendent of the Israeli police calls Palestinian members of Israel’s Knesset (parliament) “dogs” and “terrorists” in social media posts; The Israeli government honors a rabbi who became a symbol of Israel’s destruction and ethnic cleansing of Gaza during a national ceremony to mark Israel’s founding.

• May 27, 2026: Social Equality Minister May Golan called for Israel to reestablish illegal settlements in Gaza during an event organized by a far-right settler group, declaring: “It is a great privilege to celebrate the achievements we’ve made in recent years in this government, and God willing to issue a clear call that we will settle in all parts of the Land of Israel including Gaza and in every place where the holy land of Israel should be settled.” The day before, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, from Netanyahu’s Likud party, also called for Israel to reestablish settlements in Gaza, declaring: “Settling the northern border area [of Gaza] should be a part of our election manifesto.”
• May 15, 2026: Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, chief rabbi of the city of Safed and a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council, called on the Israeli government to build a synagogue in the Noble Sanctuary Mosque complex (known as the Temple Mount to Jews), the third holiest site in Islam, in occupied East Jerusalem, in preparation for building a Jewish temple there one day, as messianic Jewish extremists have been pushing for for decades, stating:

• May 14, 2026: During a speech before the annual “Jerusalem Day” march, during which right-wing Jewish extremists rampage through the Old City of East Jerusalem chanting racist slogans like “death to Arabs” and “may your village burn” and attacking Palestinians, liberal Israelis, and journalists, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the government to formally annex the entire Palestinian West Bank and build settlements in all parts of it. Smotrich, who is in charge of Israel’s West Bank settlement enterprise and a settler himself, declared:

• May 14, 2026: Before addressing the Jerusalem Day march, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir entered the Noble Sanctuary Mosque complex to assert Jewish-Israeli dominance over the site, declaring “Today, more than ever - the Temple Mount is in our hands.” He was joined by Yitzhak Kroizer, a member of Israel’s Knesset (parliament) from his Jewish Power party, who later wrote on Facebook:

• May 4, 2026; Haaretz newspaper reported that Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, the head of the Israeli military’s Central Command, had proudly declared at a recent forum that he had relaxed the army’s rules of engagement when it comes to shooting Palestinians in the West Bank and those trying to enter Israel to find work, and explained that the army discriminates in its treatment of Palestinians compared with Jewish settlers who throw rocks in the West Bank, shooting at Palestinians but not at settlers, He attempted to justify the double standard by declaring: “soldiers’ firing on Jews has profound societal consequences… I’m not sure we need to go there; we don’t have to engage in shooting, and yes, it involves discrimination.” He added that, because of the more permissive rules of engagement:

• April 28, 2026: Rabbi Dov Lior, a highly influential, longtime leader of the religious zionist movement and spiritual leader to the Jewish Power and Religious Zionism parties and their heads, National Security Minister Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Smotrich, respectively, told an interviewer that there are “no innocent civilians” during war and that Jews are commanded by the Torah to conquer Gaza and Lebanon and ethnically cleanse Arabs. The interview read in part:

When asked what the Israeli military should do to avoid killing Palestinian civilians, Lior replied:

• April 28, 2026: Israeli media reported that Chief Superintendent of the Israeli police, Doron Ahrak, had posted on social media calling Palestinian members of Israel’s Knesset (parliament) “terrorists” and “dogs” who should be “tied up and led around the Knesset.”

• April 23, 2026: Finance Minister Smotrich called for Israel to expand its borders into Gaza and neighboring countries, declaring:

• April 21, 2026: The Israeli government honored Rabbi Avraham Zarbiv by having him light a torch during a national ceremony to mark Israel’s founding in 1948. Zarbiv, who heads a religious pre-military school in an illegal settlement on Palestinian land in the West Bank, rose to prominence in Israel for enthusiastically taking part in the mass destruction of Palestinians homes and communities in Gaza, bulldozing them so their owners have “nowhere to return,” lamenting that he wasn’t able to destroy more than he did, and calling for Israel to “flatten” Gaza.

Zarbiv bragged that because of the method he devised to quickly destroy buildings: “Tens of thousands of [Palestinian] families don’t have paper, don’t have childhood pictures, don’t have ID cards. No home – they have nothing.” The government minister overseeing the ceremony explained that Zarbiv was chosen to light the torch because he “represented a generation that does not shirk its responsibility.”

• April 20, 2026: Finance Minister Smotrich told students at a religious-military school that Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank “must leave” and that Gaza needs to become a “Jewish city” by building settlements there, declaring:

• April 15, 2026: Minister of Transport, National Infrastructure and Road Safety Miri Regev from Netanyahu’s Likud party said that Israel is working to “flatten” every town in Lebanon south of the Litani River so their inhabitants can’t return, declaring: