Israeli press review: Eulogies for slain Israeli soldier who 'wanted to kill'

Israeli settler who boasted of killings in Gaza

On Saturday, Israeli soldier Avraham Ben Pinchas, a platoon commander in the Armoured Brigade, died after being hit by an anti-tank missile fired at the tank he was in during an Israeli operation in the southern Gaza Strip.

Many have eulogised Ben Pinchas, a settler from the settlement of Harsha, northwest of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

His neighbour, Yaakov, said of Ben Pinchas: "One of the last times you were at home you were bothered a lot because in your opinion we should look at the issue of war like a passage in the Talmud.

"You demanded that we go into the depth of the issue and see things as you see them – this is the order of the war – to conquer the Land of Israel and save the people of Israel."

Another eulogy was published on the WhatsApp group of Hilltop News, a chat that reports news from radical Israeli settlers in the West Bank settlements.

"Avraham went to this war out of a tremendous desire to elevate the people of Israel. He was so happy to enter Gaza and lead attacks, he wanted to kill, take revenge and destroy as much as possible, so that the whole world would understand what is happening to those who deal with the people of Israel."

'He was so happy to enter Gaza and lead attacks, he wanted to kill, take revenge and destroy as much as possible'

- eulogy for Israeli soldier Avraham Ben Pinchas

Ben Pinchas's friend later notes that "he told me that at first he told himself that he would count how many terrorists he had killed. At first, he also counted those who he killed by shooting, shells and running over, but later he decided that what he kills with shells does not count within the count...and informed his crew that they were stopping running over and only killing with the MAG because he was tired of cleaning his arms and legs from the tank's tracked treads. After a relatively short period of time, he reached to about 30 that he killed and decided that he had no strength to keep counting."

The eulogies have shocked some progressive lawmakers and rights activists with the brazenness of the admissions of atrocities and killings.

"These are exactly the crimes that they are trying to hide through persecution, suspension and threats. We will not be silent! We will expose them and their perpetrators everywhere and without fear," Knesset member Ofer Kasif, of the left-wing Hadash party, wrote on social media.

According to Knesset member Moshe Tur-Paz of the centrist Yesh Atid party, eulogies like those of Ben Pinchas are becoming more common in Israel.

"Lately, there has been an increase in eulogies about soldiers who take pride in the fact that they go in to kill. 'What fun I have killed in Gaza 10, 20, 30'... Killing is not a great pleasure, we don't take pride in it, we don't rejoice in it, there are two real sides to being a Jewish fighter – both fear of doing harm to others and fear of what will be done to you."

In October, during the funeral of an Israeli soldier killed in Lebanon, his brother said of him, "you entered Gaza in order to take revenge as much as possible, on women and children, on everything you saw, that's what you wanted."

Law restricts citizens' movement

This week, the Knesset approved a new law that will enable the issuance of restrictive orders against citizens without an orderly legal process and without evidence.

According to the law, the police, with the approval of the court, will be able to impose movement restrictions, such as a prohibition on entering a certain town or area, a ban on leaving a place of residence, and a prevention on maintaining contact with certain people.

In addition, according to the law, the state will be able to impose restrictions on driving, internet use, and leaving the country.

'Protest activists and 'dissidents' may also find themselves under restrictions, in light of the vague and broad definition of a 'criminal organisation'

- Association for Civil Rights in Israel

The purpose of the law, according to the law's initiators, is to provide additional tools for the police in its fight against crime in Arab society in Israel.

The bill's initiator, Knesset member Zvika Fogel of Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), wrote after the bill was passed: "A historic law! The bill that I initiated entered the book of laws of the State of Israel today: house arrest or a restraining order for members of criminal organisations, based on intelligence information, for a period of up to six months."

The head of his party, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, also celebrated the approval of the law.

But it also led to angry reactions. In a statement, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, an Israeli NGO, warned that the new law was "a serious deviation from the criminal law and the protections contained therein, and creates a separate and different enforcement system, first and foremost for Arabs, which is the main goal of the law".

"In addition, protest activists and 'dissidents' may also find themselves under restrictions, in light of the vague and broad definition of a 'criminal organisation.'"

The Shakuf website noted that the law joins several other laws promoted by the Ben Gvir with the aim of expanding the powers of the police.

Recently, a regulation was approved that allows the police to carry out mass surveillance of citizens without supervision, and a law was introduced in the Knesset to facilitate the process of probing citizens' personal computers or mobile phones.

Israel seizes PA money to pay 7 October attorneys

The salaries of defence attorneys of Palestinian suspects arrested during the 7 October attacks, or during the war, will be paid from the funds of the Palestinian Authority (PA), under a new law approved by the Knesset this week.

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Israel collects the Palestinian Authority's tax money and is supposed to transfer it to the PA. Only last January, after many months of delays, did the Israeli government, under American pressure, transfer the tax money to Ramallah.

The bill's initiator, Knesset member Simcha Rothman of the Religious Zionist Party, said that the passage of the law "does justice and corrects the moral injustice imposed on the citizens of the State of Israel."

He added: "There is no justification for the funding for the defence attorneys of those [7 October] terrorists and those terrorists who participated in the criminal attack on the State of Israel and murdered, massacred, raped and burned it to come from the pockets of the citizens of the State of Israel.

"I am proud that this proposal was passed with the support of the coalition and the opposition, the coming together against terrorism and bringing justice to the bereaved families is necessary."

Last June, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, head of Rotman's party, announced the transfer of 130 million shekels of the PA's tax money that had been frozen by Israel will be delivered to families of terror victims.

Bill cracks down on students

This week, the Knesset's education committee held a discussion on a bill initiated by Knesset member Limor Son Hr Melech of the Otzma Yehudit party, which seeks to close student groups and revoke academic degrees over suspicion of supporting "terrorism" against Israel.

Son Hr Melech wrote after the discussion that the new law sought to "stop the phenomenon that is prevalent in universities and institutions of higher education, in which student cells that support terrorism and operate freely are established".

'This law will lead to slander that already exists among students, and will harm the students' ability to advance and learn'

- Palestinian student, Tel Aviv University

A Palestinian student from Tel Aviv University said during the discussion: "This law will lead to slander that already exists among students, and will harm the students' ability to advance and learn."

The left-wing organisation Standing Together said that the law initiated by the "racist" Knesset member, as well as the discussion of the bill, had the same goal: "to reduce the democratic space in Israel and to silence those who oppose the government's policy, especially Palestinian students and lecturers."

This bill joins another bill that is being advanced in the Knesset, which was also supposed to be discussed by the Education Committee, but in the end its discussion was postponed.

The other bill seeks to dismiss without compensation any lecturer whose expressions raise suspicions of supporting terrorism. According to the law, if the university does not fire the suspected lecturer, it will be deprived of its budget.

Law will prevent return of Palestinian bodies

The Knesset has preliminarily approved a bill designed to prevent the return of the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israel who are defined by the state as "terrorists".

According to the bill, the bodies will be buried in a cemetery for enemy casualties, Channel 14 reported.

The bill passed by a majority of 40 to eight with only members of the Palestinian parties voting against it, while members of Benny Gantz's party, which is considered an opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also supported the bill.

The explanatory notes to the law read: "As a defensive democracy, the State of Israel is obligated to constantly examine the ways at its disposal to deal with the changing challenges posed by the threat of terrorism.

It added that expressions of support for "terrorist attacks", the attackers and the organisations and ideology behind them had grown in recent years, and that such expressions were common at funerals of fighters.

The initiators of the law continued. "This is especially evident during the burial ceremonies of the terrorists. More than once, there have been cases in which posters have been raised, calls and speeches have been heard expressing support for the attack that was carried out or calling for additional terrorist acts."