OMM Redaksiyası
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said he met a group of young Israelis who voiced support for killing all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including babies.
Lapid made the remarks in a podcast interview, excerpts of which have circulated on social media in recent days. He said the group called for killing everyone and argued that there were no innocent people in Gaza.
“I asked them: ‘Even babies?’” Lapid said. According to him, they replied that babies should also be killed because they would grow up to become terrorists.
Lapid criticises ministers’ comments
Lapid said Israel “will not recover” from allowing a minister to remain in office after calling for a nuclear strike on Gaza. Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu called in November 2023 for using a nuclear weapon against the territory.
Lapid also criticised remarks by Israeli officials about starving civilians in Gaza, saying that comments by ministers who remain in office damage Israel.
The war, which began on October 8, 2023, has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians and injured more than 175,000, mostly women and children, according to the figures cited in the report.
Israel’s ties with countries critical of its policies
Lapid said cutting ties with countries that criticise Israel or closing embassies does not serve the country’s interests. He described anti-Israel rhetoric in Ireland and Spain as unacceptable, while questioning the value of closing Israel’s embassy in Dublin or recalling its ambassador from Madrid.
Instead, he said he would prefer to visit those countries, appear in their media and engage with Israel’s critics rather than boycott them.
