JNS
The newspaper's Gideon Levy described IDF Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth using the Nazi-era term "oberkommandant."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday accused the Haaretz newspaper of promoting "antisemitic blood libels" against the commander of the Israel Defense Forces' Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, and the 500,000-plus Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria.
"Haaretz does not allow freedom of expression—it allows nonstop incitement," Netanyahu said in a statement the Prime Minister's Office shared on Thursday afternoon.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu firmly rejects the despicable accusations against OC Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, and against the residents of Judea and Samaria. These are antisemitic blood libels typical of our enemies around the world," the premier continued.
Netanyahu "expresses his support for and strengthens Maj. Gen. Bluth and the IDF soldiers who act every day to eradicate terrorism in Judea and Samaria," he stated. "They do so with determination and with uncompromising morality, and we all salute them."
The premier's condemnation came in response to an op-ed in which Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy described Bluth using the Nazi-era term for commander in chief, "oberkommandant," saying he should be tried for war crimes.
"The meaning of the name Bluth in German is 'blood.' This general of blood is now reshaping the West Bank and the moral character of the entire state," Levy charged in his column, adding, "Perhaps he will yet be appointed the next warlord of genocide, after Gaza."
Earlier this week, Haaretz publisher Amos Schocken also labeled Bluth a war criminal, writing that "The Hague must arrest him" for ordering the uprooting of trees near the site of an Aug. 21 shooting in Samaria.
According to the post by the Haaretz publisher, IDF soldiers moved to uproot "thousands" of olive trees in Al-Mughayyir after a terrorist from the village opened fire at a group of Jewish shepherds, wounding one.
The military confirmed on Sunday that "following the serious shooting attack near the village of Al-Mughayyir and the terrorist's escape into the village—along with a series of terror attacks originating from that same village—the IDF launched intensified operational activity in the area."
As part of this activity, the statement continued, "vegetation was cleared from an area adjacent to the Allon Road, which the terrorist had used to escape the scene. The clearing was immediately necessary to eliminate a life-threatening danger posed by the vegetation that obstructed visibility and concealed enemy movement."
Responding to Levy's attack on Thursday, Defense Minister Israel Katz denounced "with disgust the vile attacks by the Haaretz newspaper against OC Central Command Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, in light of his actions and the IDF’s actions against Palestinian terror in Judea and Samaria.
"Haaretz’s attempt to defame him and the IDF is a despicable blood libel, a genuine act of antisemitic incitement that serves our enemies' propaganda and weakens the fight against terror," the minister said.
"The IDF is the protective wall of the Jewish people, and no hostile element, domestic or external, will be allowed to undermine its legitimacy or the righteousness of our path," Katz added.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir in a statement "strongly" condemned the "inciting discourse against the commander of the Central Command.
“Maj. Gen. Bluth is a first-rate combat officer, principled and moral, who has worked tirelessly for many years, day and night, for the security of the State of Israel and its citizens, and in particular the residents of Judea and Samaria," the IDF chief said in the Hebrew-language statement.
"The IDF acts, and will continue to act, to eradicate terrorism in Judea and Samaria, while upholding the law and its values," added Zamir.
Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi called on Katz and Zamir "not to settle for condemnations, but to implement the Cabinet's decision and immediately sever ties with Haaretz.
"The halt of government funding for Haaretz and its despicable writers—a move I led, despite the opposition of the former attorney general [Gali Baharav-Miara]— must first and foremost be implemented within the IDF, as well as the defense establishment," the communications minister continued.
"It is inconceivable that senior IDF officers should read the filth of Gideon Levy and the other haters of Israel in the paper," he said.
In October 2024, Schocken hailed Palestinian terrorists as "freedom fighters." Those comments caused a storm in Israel and led Netanyahu's government to cut off all official connections to Haaretz.
The move, according to a statement from Karhi's office, followed "numerous articles that harmed the legitimacy of the State of Israel in the world and its right to self-defense, particularly in light of the recent statements by the publisher of Haaretz, Amos Schocken, who expressed support for terrorism and called for sanctions against the government."
