How We Can Use Israeli Generals to Win the Argument on Gaza
Seven quotes from top military commanders that totally undermine and debunk pro-Israel propaganda on everything from apartheid to genocide.
For 22 months, we have been misled, gaslit, and lied to by hasbarists.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, the pro-Israel propagandists who dominate our airwaves and op-ed pages, and troll us online, have not only told one whopper after another, but have also relentlessly and cynically attacked any criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza as antisemitic, pro-Hamas, and a ‘blood libel.’
And I happen to have had firsthand experience of these dishonest and defamatory tactics, in debates with the likes of Eylon Levy, Douglas Murray, Piers Morgan, and Alan Dershowitz.
So what do I do to push back? I quote Israel’s most senior military figures to make my case – whether it is on genocide, ethnic cleansing, or the killing of kids. To my opponents, I cite the words of top generals who have, at one point or another, literally commanded Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip – whether in 2009, 2014, or in the wake of Oct. 7, 2023. Because it’s easy for them to smear and dismiss a leftist professor or a UN official as antisemitic or anti-Israel, but a decorated Israeli general and war hero? Much, much harder. Nigh impossible, I’d say.
Here are seven of the most damning, revealing, self-incriminating quotes from top Israeli generals that you should be aware of and that you can also deploy in any argument with the hasbarists.
1. DESTRUCTION OF GAZA
They say: “We’re not trying to destroy Gaza; we’re trying to remove the threat from Gaza.”
What does the Israeli general say? “Gaza will be destroyed,” Herzi Halevi, retired Israeli general and former chief of staff of the Israeli military, told his wife on the morning of Oct. 7, 2023.
2. KILLING OF CIVILIANS
They say: “The IDF does everything possible to limit civilian casualties in Gaza.”
What does the Israeli general say? “For everything that happened on October 7, for every person on October 7, 50 Palestinians must die,” Aharon Haliva, retired Israeli major general and former director of the Military Intelligence Directorate on Oct. 7, can be heard saying in recordings broadcast by Israel’s Channel 12 TV station earlier this month. “It doesn’t matter now if they are children.”
The general can also be heard saying that Palestinians “need a Nakba every now and then to feel the price.”