Chairman of the Knesset National Security Committee MK Zvika Fogel on Tuesday tweeted an exceptionally assertive message that hit all the right places and made him the left’s most hated politician for one day. The message went: “First we’ll defeat Hamas, soon we’ll take care of Hezbollah, and for dessert, we’ll install order in the High Court of Justice. To everything there is a season. Have patience.”
סבלנות. pic.twitter.com/idGL1P3ZtW
— צביקה פוגל (@tzvikafoghel) January 2, 2024
Minister Benny Gantz responded by saying Vogel’s words were “a despicable and shameful comparison between the worst of our enemies and the gatekeepers of the State of Israel,” and called the MK’s statement “a moral abomination.”
To Gantz’s credit, it should be noted that he also condemned in the same tweet a statement by the former head of the Shin Bet Karmi Gilon, who said that “there is a right-wing that wants to take over the lives of all the citizens of the State of Israel by the most tried and tested means of all, just like the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, like ISIS, like Hamas and like Khomeini’s Iranian revolution – to take over everyone’s life in the name of religion, in the name of messianism.”
Gantz added that “divisiveness, incitement and violent and despicable discourse no longer have a place in Israeli society,” and called on “each one of them to retract their statements, and for the entire leadership to condemn it.”
שמישהו יסביר לי מה ההבדל בין ההשוואה של צביקה פוגל: “נטפל בחמאס ובחיזבאללה ואחר כך בבג”ץ”, לבין ההשוואה של השופטת ברון: “המדינה במלחמה מול האויב הברברי – והדמוקרטיה בסכנה מול הרפורמה המשפטית”? pic.twitter.com/llc2hPn35U
— מיכל אגמון MICHAL AGMON (@michalagmon2) January 2, 2024
The satirical account calling itself Michal Agmon asked what’s the difference between Fogel’s statement and the opinion published on Tuesday by retired Supreme Court Justice Anat Baron who wrote (see the underlined sentences): “The State of Israel is in a bloody war against a barbaric enemy that wants to destroy us,” followed by, “Israeli democracy is under danger at home these days, which is represented by the amendment of the Basic Law: The Judiciary.”
While Fogel merely stated the order of priorities in taking care of the country and did not suggest the court was the same as Hamas and Hezbollah – Justice Baron did.
Fogel joined the Otzma Yehudit party in September 2022 and was elected to the Knesset two months later. He does not suffer fools and does not hide his views – making him the guilty pleasure of many right-wingers in Israel. One month after his election, Fogel told the UK Channel 4 that Israel was too “merciful” to the PA Arabs and “the concept of proportionality (in retaliation – DI) should cease to exist.” He also told his British interviewer that if the choice is between “one Israeli mother crying, or a thousand Palestinian mothers crying, then a thousand Palestinian mothers will cry.”
Isn’t it funny to observe how the above statement, which was shocking to many Israelis back when Fogel made it, today is commonly held by a huge portion of the nation? Take as another example his statement in February 2023, “A shut-down, burnt down Huwara – that’s what I want to see. That’s the only way to achieve deterrence. After a murder like yesterday’s, we need burning villages when the IDF doesn’t act.” He also suggested, “We need to stop shying away from collective punishment.”
It could be said that for most of us, October 7 released our inner Zvika Fogel.
