An Israeli politician who has labeled Palestinian babies in Gaza the “enemy” and has said it’s “morally” right to kill them has secured a seat in the incoming Israeli Knesset, which is set to be sworn in on November 10, regardless of whether a new government is formed.
Moshe Feilgin, the leader of the Zehut party, previously served in the Knesset as a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netnayahu’s Likud party from 2013 to 2015. Zehut joined forces with Religious Zionism, led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, ahead of the October 27 election, and the alliance secured six seats in the new Knesset.
Since the election, Feiglin has said he hopes to become Israel’s defense minister, though there’s been no sign that he’s been offered the job, and it remains unclear what the next government will look like since Netanyahu’s coalition hasn’t secured a majority to form a government.
Last year, Feiglin made headlines when he said that “every child, every baby in Gaza is an enemy” of Israel. “Every child in Gaza is the enemy. We need to occupy Gaza and settle it, and not a single Gazan child will be left there. There is no other victory,” he said in an appearance on Israeli TV.
In a recent English-language interview with the Jerusalem Post, Feiglin doubled down on his viewpoint, saying that he personally doesn’t want to see babies killed even though he thinks it is “morally” the right thing to do, and that he would prefer all Palestinians to be expelled from Gaza instead.
“I’m saying again again because I’m Jewish and I guess I’m a bit a little bit weak morally. I don’t want to see babies killed, okay? Morally, that should have been done, because of everything I explained. So, but because … I’m Jewish with a soft heart, I would open the borders and let them all go, but no one can stay. And it has to be a part of the Jewish land, Jewish state,” he said.
Elsewhere in the interview, Feiglin said it was “100%” a Jewish point of view to “wipe out” Gaza, expel all the Palestinians, and annex Gaza and the West Bank. He labeled all of Gaza as the “enemy,” not just Hamas.
“The baby that would be born — I’ll say something very tough now, excuse me for saying it — the baby that will be born tomorrow in Gaza, the Arab baby. Notice I’m not saying Hamas, I’m not saying Palestinian … the enemy is Gaza, not Hamas. The baby that will be born in Gaza tomorrow will do exactly the same — God forbid — to your baby that would be born in Jerusalem,” he said.
Feiglin was criticized for his comments about killing babies by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and responded by pointing to the US strategic bombing campaign and use of nuclear weapons targeting Japanese cities during World War II, which killed scores of civilians, something Carlson has also previously criticized.
“And who exactly are you, Mr. Carlson, to talk about morality? Are you talking on behalf of the nation that burned to ashes almost 90% of Japanese cities during World War II? Did you care about men, women, and children when you finished the job, when you nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki?” Feiglin said.
