Former IAF Fighter Pilot Calls for Killing of ‘Undemocratic Leaders’

Ze’ev Raz, one of the leaders of the Balfour protest and a former fighter pilot, called to assassinate Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in a social media post.

Raz was a pilot who participated in a reactor bombing operation in Iraq in 1981, which is known as Operation Opera.

“If a sitting prime minister assumes dictatorial powers, this prime minister is bound to die, simply like that, along with his ministers and his followers,” he wrote. He continued by arguing that Israel should integrate “din rodef.”

“My din rodef rules that if my country is taken over by a person, foreigner or Israeli, who leads it in an undemocratic manner, it is obligatory to kill him… it is better to kill the criminals first.”

The Likud party immediately called for Raz’s arrest following his statements.

“The incitement against Prime Minister Netanyahu breaks records of insanity,” the party issued in an official statement. “We are shocked by Ze’ev Raz’s call to assassinate Prime Minister Netanyahu and his Cabinet ministers. The Shin Bet and the police must act immediately to arrest him and the other instigators against Prime Minister Netanyahu.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned Raz’s statements, posting: “Any incitement and violence only harms the fight to save this country. I call on all those who love this country to demonstrate, protest, take to the streets, but lawfully, do not incite violence of any kind. The Shin Bet and the police must act immediately to arrest him and the other instigators against Prime Minister Netanyahu.”

Raz then apologized for his statements, writing on social media: “The post I posted here with the words din rodef was a quote from a person who retracted it, and I deleted it. I do not identify with that post.”