The speech delivered by a “rabbi-official” to Israeli soldiers has sparked widespread controversy among a number of Israelis and has ignited a widespread fire of anger among thousands of users including on social networking sites in recent hours.
And now with English subtitles, thanks to @maozinon
“…the land is ours. The whole country! All! Including petrol! Lebanon included! The whole promised land!”
We – people who seek life and peace – are hostages trapped between Hamas and these extremists. HELP pic.twitter.com/pqYiMC76PG
— Tami Yakira (@tami_yakira) November 5, 2023
The scene, defined as provocative, in which Amichai Friedman, the rabbi of the Nahal Brigade’s training base, addresses a group of soldiers, cheerfully shouting that his country’s forces would “destroy them all”, in reference to to the Palestinians of Gaza.
He also added, proud of Israel’s violent bombing of the besieged Palestinian Strip: “Since there were no deaths, no hostages and no injuries among our ranks, this may have been the happiest month of my life.”
“The whole country is ours”
He added, shouting excitedly: “The whole country is ours… including Gaza and Lebanon!”
He also said: “The entire promised land is ours… We will return to it again! Gush Katif (i.e. the former settlement block in Gaza that was evacuated in the 2005 disengagement plan) – will be small compared to what we will make it happen!”
While the soldiers sang to him: “It’s all ours.”
He concluded by underlining that “Israel will eradicate Hamas and destroy its enemies. We will destroy them all.”
On the other hand, the army announced in a statement, after a wave of criticism sparked by the video, that “the behavior of this officer, as shown in the video, is not consistent with the values and directives of the army” , according to what was reported by the newspaper Haaretz.
He also indicated that he had summoned him “for an explanatory meeting!”, adding that he “will not allow this type of unacceptable speech within his ranks, in times of routine or in times of war”.
This video also follows the fiery statements released yesterday, Sunday, by the Israeli Minister for Cultural Heritage Amichai Eliyahu, according to which hitting Gaza with a nuclear bomb was a possibility, which embarrassed the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pushing him then to announce his suspension from office. participate in government sessions.