An attempt to demonize Israel’s response to Hamas was handily smacked down by a straight-talking Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Context remained irrelevant for those pushing narratives, and such was the case when Herzog was made to point out for the umpteenth time that terrorists in Gaza were put into power by the very same populous they use as human shields as a reporter made it sound as though the president held civilians directly responsible for the acts of terrorists.
The president was prompted to offer a stern correction when the notion was presented by the reporter who said, “You seem to hold the people of Gaza, the civilians of Gaza, responsible for not removing Hamas and therefore, by implication, that makes them legitimate targets.”
Herzog’s response was “past presidential language” as his former international media advisor Eylon Levy put it, and was to the point.
“No, I didn’t say that. I did not say that — I want to make it clear. I was asked something about separating civilians from Hamas. But with all due respect, with all due respect, if you have a missile in your goddamn kitchen and you want to shoot it at me, am I allowed to defend myself? Yes,” he explained. “That’s the situation. These missiles are there, these missiles are launched, the button is pressed, the missile comes up from the kitchen onto my children.”
President @Isaac_Herzog is past presidential language:
“With all due respect, if you have a missile in your goddamn kitchen and you want to shoot it at me, am I allowed to defend myself? Yes! That is the situation.”pic.twitter.com/80ULmoBEqg
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) October 12, 2023
After Hamas had launched an indiscriminate attack on Israel on Oct. 7, taking the lives of at least 1,300 men, women and children, the Middle Eastern nation had declared war in response, but maintained that civilians be given ample time to retreat to safety.
However, certain corporate media figures had attempted to paint Israel’s response as being equivalently heinous to the terrorists who directly targeted women and children in their homes for murder and mutilation by using a statement from Herzog as an assignment of collective responsibility.
Self-identified socialist and antifascist Owen Jones of The Guardian shared a quote from the president that read, “It is not true this rhetoric about civilians were not aware, not involved. It’s absolutely not true. They could have risen up, could have fought against that evil regime, which took over Gaza in a coup d’état.”
To that he asserted, “There you have it. Israel’s president Isaac Herzog makes the Israeli state’s official position abundantly clear: that the Palestinian civilian population have collective guilt. This is the mentality which, throughout history, leads to genocide.”
Adding to that, New York Magazine’s Eric Levitz posted on X, “Herzog’s statement has the same logic as ‘settlers aren’t civilians.’ Given that this is coming from a president not a student group, the chorus of condemnations should be louder than that drawn by the Hamas apologists. Somehow, I don’t think it will be.”
Herzog’s statement has the same logic as “settlers aren’t civilians.” Given that this is coming from a president not a student group, the chorus of condemnations should be louder than that drawn by the Hamas apologists. Somehow, I don’t think it will be https://t.co/93SoZI3mBk
— Eric Levitz (@EricLevitz) October 13, 2023
As Isaac Schorr categorized it in writing for Mediaite, “Herzog may have been guilty of using faulty reasoning to support a reasonable contention, but he is most definitely not guilty of what some in the media are accusing him of.”
By comparison, one such seeming “Hamas apologist” was U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) who, only after continued pushback over her lack of condemnation of the attacks against Israel managed to recognize targeting and killing civilians was wrong, but only in a way that marked culpability with Israel and the United States.
“The failure to recognize the violent reality of living under siege, occupation, and apartheid makes no one safer,” the congresswoman said referencing the people living in Gaza. “No person, no child anywhere should have to suffer or live in fear of violence. We cannot ignore the humanity in each other. As long as our country provides billions in unconditional funding to support the apartheid government, this heartbreaking cycle of violence will continue.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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