Israel must “de-Nazify Gaza” after defeating Hamas, according to former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who highlighted the need to address widespread anti-Jewish sentiment among Palestinians, who overwhelmingly support both Hamas and the October 7 massacre it perpetrated.
In a viral post Monday, the former Israeli Prime Minister expressed a grim assessment of Palestinian support for the U.S.-designated Islamist terrorist group Hamas and the brutal October 7 attacks, lamenting that the majority of Palestinians back the violent actions and ideology of the terrorist group.
I wish we could say that the Palestinians were “hijacked” by Hamas and the people themselves actually seek peace and prosperity, but the facts show the opposite:
– The latest poll from days ago shows that 67% of the Palestinians SUPPORT the October 7th massacre.
– In the only…
— Naftali Bennett נפתלי בנט (@naftalibennett) June 17, 2024
Pointing to recent polls and historical election data to substantiate his claims, Bennett challenged the notion that Palestinians “seek peace and prosperity,” as he called for a reevaluation of diplomatic strategies and a focus on combating the Palestinian indoctrination of hate.
“I wish we could say that the Palestinians were ‘hijacked’ by Hamas and the people themselves actually seek peace and prosperity, but the facts show the opposite,” his post began, referencing a new poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) indicating that 67% of Palestinians support the October 7 massacre.
The same proportion believe that Hamas will win the war with Israel.
Such support, he argued, is not new, citing the 2006 Palestinian Authority elections where Hamas won an absolute majority with 76 out of 132 seats, compared to Fatah’s 48 seats.
He noted that subsequent polls suggest Hamas would continue to win if elections were held, leading to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas avoiding further elections, fearing defeat.
The former PM also highlighted the participation of thousands of Gazans in the October 7 massacre, including acts of slaughter, immolation, and sexual assault, without any known opposition from Gaza residents.
“So a majority of Palestinians support horrible crimes and many of them participated in one way or another (e.g., using their homes as Hamas ammunition storage),” he wrote, underscoring the widespread complicity in the violence.
Bennett outlined several reasons why such acknowledgment is crucial, including the importance of truth, especially for any future diplomatic plan, and the necessity to “stop the brain poisoning that every Palestinian goes through [that] turns many into murderers.”
“If you’re brain-poisoned to believe that Jews are the Satan and pigs, nobody should be surprised when you actually go out to murder them,” he argued.
He then categorically rejected the “false” idea that their “tough condition” is responsible for their decision to murder.
“There are billions of people who live in poverty and much worse conditions that don’t become savage murderers,” he insisted. “Actually, the Palestinians have much better conditions than most other Arabs, and prior to October 7th they were enjoying considerable economic growth.”
He concluded with a call to “de-Nazify Gaza and many of the Palestinian public” as a necessary step for long-term progress, starting with the defeat of Hamas.
In December, Breitbart News reported how support for Hamas had more than tripled in the West Bank following the terror group’s October 7 massacre, the deadliest against Jewish people since the Nazi Holocaust, according to a poll showing more than four-fifths of Palestinian respondents from the West Bank agreed with the terror group’s decision to execute the barbaric attacks.
New Palestinian public opinion poll published by the Palestinian Center for Policy & Survey Research:
🔴 72% of Palestinians say that #Hamas‘ #October7 massacre was the “correct” decision.
🔴If presidential elections were held today for Palestinian leadership & there were only… pic.twitter.com/bl0hkNtA2D
— CIJA (@CIJAinfo) December 13, 2023
The previous month, a poll by Birzeit University’s Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD) showed significant Palestinian support for Hamas and its October 7 massacre, with nearly three-quarters favoring the elimination of Israel.
A Palestinian public opinion poll by Arab World for Research and Development, in Ramallah, shows:
➡️83% of West Bank Palestinians ‘extremely support’ or ‘support somewhat’ Hamas’s antisemitic massacre on Oct. 7.
➡️Only 7% oppose it.
Think about that. pic.twitter.com/pls6jI3HpG
— CAMERA UK (@CAMERAorgUK) November 18, 2023
Palestinian support for terrorism and terror groups has long served as a barrier to peace between the two sides.
The survey ultimately revealed that Palestinian society shows greater unity on this issue than the global community, even as the Biden administration continues to pressure Israel to work with the significantly weakened Palestinian Authority (PA), insisting on implementing the largely failed two-state solution to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In October, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) asserted, “Anyone who claims to support the people of Gaza but not Hamas should remember that Gazans elected Hamas.”
Anyone who claims to support the people of Gaza but not Hamas should remember that Gazans elected Hamas.
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) October 24, 2023
“At some point, some will have to reconcile themselves to the fact that while many Palestinian civilians did not take part in the massacre, many almost certainly cheered it,” wrote Erielle Davidson, senior policy analyst with JINSA. “The savagery and rot that pervades the Hamas terrorist is not exclusive to the terrorists themselves. Same animating hatred.”
Conservative pundit Brigitte Gabriel shared what she termed the “sad truth” that the Palestinians in Gaza “mostly support what Hamas is doing,” and even those who disagree with Hamas “hate the Jews so badly — they are collectively antisemites.”
The Palestinians in Gaza mostly support what Hamas is doing. It’s the sad truth. pic.twitter.com/95jUgDvFaa
— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) October 18, 2023
Hamas’ massacre received broad support from Palestinian factions across the board, with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad participating in it, the “moderate” Fatah expressing support, and the official Palestinian Authority (PA) pledging to pay nearly $3 million to the families of slain Hamas terrorists who executed the massacre.
Palestinian politician Major General Issam Abu Bakr, who served as governor of the Palestinian city of Tulkarem, expressed his belief in unanimous support for the attack, saying “I do not think there is a single Palestinian who does not support what happened.”
An additional poll from March carried out by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, found that the vast majority of Palestinians — nearly seventy percent — expressed support for the creation of armed terrorist groups to attack the Jewish state.
A previous poll conducted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) revealed that a whopping 93 percent of Palestinians hold antisemitic beliefs.
We have to make war to prove that we are stronger than the Jews,
says a little Palestinian schoolgirl in a Gaza school. pic.twitter.com/5XAVpZqKMJ
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 12, 2023
Numerous videos depicted a supportive response of the Palestinian street to news of the October massacre.
As Breitbart News reported, immediately after news of the attacks broke, Palestinians at home and abroad were seen celebrating jubilantly.
Photos and videos uploaded to social media show Palestinian crowds greeting the returning executioners as heroes and burning seized Israeli cars in the streets of Gaza.
Others show Palestinians rallying, handing out sweets, and firing guns in the air.
Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank Celebrate on October 7, Hand Out Sweets, Fire Guns in the Air, following Hamas’s Invasion and Massacre in the Gaza Envelope #Palestinians #Hamas #Gaza #Israel pic.twitter.com/hox5P91DkM
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) October 29, 2023
Ordinary Palestinian civilians were not just seen celebrating the massacre, but actively participating in it, with full mobs captured on film pouring across the breached border to take part in the killing and raping of innocents, as well as the looting of their property.
According to IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus, significant numbers of Palestinians unaffiliated with terror groups entered Israel and participated in the atrocities alongside the terrorists.
In addition, Gadi Yarkoni, the mayor of the Eshkol Regional Council, told the Free Beacon that the “second wave of Arabs who came into the country were just as cruel as the terrorists of the first wave.”
“We saw that it was not only Hamas who came to slaughter us,” he added. “It was all the residents of Gaza, including people who worked in our kibbutzim.”
The matter follows Hamas’ multi-pronged October attack that saw some 3,000 terrorists infiltrate Israel by land, sea, and air and gun down participants at an outdoor music festival while going door to door hunting for Jewish men, women, and children in local towns who were then subject to torture, rape, execution, immolation, and kidnapping.
From the body cam of a Hamas terrorist on October 7.
A little girl hides under a table in her home before being shot to death.
Don’t look away, never forget. pic.twitter.com/sMLVczh5tR
— The Mossad: Satirical, Yet Awesome (@TheMossadIL) December 9, 2023
The massacre, which drew parallels to scenes from the Nazi Holocaust, resulted in nearly 1,200 dead inside the Jewish state, over 4,800 more wounded, and at least 241 hostages of all ages taken — of which nearly half remain in Gaza.
The vast majority of the victims are civilians and include dozens of American citizens.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
