Mourners Eulogize Israeli Soldier for His Desire To ‘Take Revenge’ Against Palestinian Women and Children

Shuvael Ben-Natan, a West Bank settler who murdered a Palestinian olive harvester, was killed by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon last week

An Israeli soldier who was killed in Lebanon was fondly remembered at his funeral for his desire to “take revenge” against Palestinian women and children in Gaza, Israeli media has reported.

Shuvael Ben-Natan, a 22-year-old Israeli reservist and West Bank settler, was killed while fighting Hezbollah last week. “You entered Gaza to take revenge — as much as possible. [Against] women, children — everyone you saw. As much as possible. That’s what you wanted,” Ben-Natan’s brother, Uriah Ben-Natan, said at the funeral, according to The Times of Israel.

“May the people of Israel be worthy of pursuing your vengeance – blood vengeance, not revenge by burning homes, trees, and vehicles,” Uriah added.

A soldier delivered a eulogy at the funeral and called Ben-Natan a “goofball” for burning down a house in Gaza. “You were the happiest and biggest goofball in the platoon. We realized this for the first time when you set a house on fire without approval in order to boost morale,” the soldier said.

Another speaker at the funeral fondly recalled when Ben-Natan shot and killed a Palestinian in the West Bank who was harvesting olives with his children in October 2023. “I was so impressed by you,” the speaker said, according to Haaretz. “There were cursed olive harvesters, terrorists, and the pathetic Israel Defense Forces didn’t realize what was happening. You shoot, you talk, you drive them away.”

The speaker criticized the Israeli military for arresting Ben-Natan over the murder of the Palestinian olive harvester, Bilal Salah. “They’re despicable; they arrested you but didn’t even question the Arabs,” he said.

According to eyewitness accounts, Salah and several other Palestinians were harvesting olives in a town near Nablus when settlers attacked them and opened fire. Despite the murder, Ben-Natan was still able to fight for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza and Lebanon.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.