Israel could punish ‘denial of the October 7 massacre’ with five years in prison

Israel could punish ‘denial of the October 7 massacre’ with five years in prison
By: Lifesite News Posted On: February 08, 2024 View: 9

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(LifeSiteNews) — Members of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, have approved the first reading of a bill that proposes to criminalize “denial of the October 7 massacre.” If passed into law, published remarks in text or speech deemed to “deny or downplay” the events on the day of the Hamas assault could attract a five-year prison sentence.

As The Jerusalem Post reported on February 5:

According to the proposal, anyone who publishes, in writing or orally, things that deny the massacre or downplays it or publishes praise, sympathy, or identification with the actions committed by Hamas in the events of that day – will be sentenced to five years in prison.

The bill’s explanation reads: “The denial of the massacre constitutes an attempt to rewrite history already at this stage, in an attempt to hide, minimize, and facilitate the crimes committed against the Jewish people and the State of Israel.”

The proposed legislation follows the January 26 release of a new video campaign equating “October 7 denial” with “Holocaust denial.” The English language film, produced by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, states that “from the horror of the Holocaust to the October 7 massacre, denying atrocities committed against Jews is anti-Semitism.”

Both measures come after reports in the Israeli press showing that some widely reported atrocities on the day did not take place.

READ: Uncovering the truth behind Israel’s justification for its war in Gaza

Some of the worst stories, including beheaded and burned babies, have been traced to ZAKA, a for-profit volunteer emergency response organization. ZAKA is one of several outfits which seek to recover human remains from accidents and attacks on civilians.

In a separate bill, which also passed a preliminary reading on the same day, members of the Israeli government are also proposing to compensate ZAKA for its work on and after October 7.

The Jerusalem Post report continues:

The proposal by Likud MK Moshe Passal gives financial compensation to ZAKA volunteers who volunteered for endeavors carried out by the organization during Operation Swords of Iron.

‘There is no doubt that the volunteers took a significant part and did hard work, both physically and mentally …’ Passal said.

Likud is the party of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A further bill proposed by Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power Party) permits the deportation of anyone deemed to be in sympathy with the attacks on October 7:

Regarding deportation for families of terrorists, deportation will only be enforced if it’s proven that the relatives knew in advance of the terror attack, expressed support for it, or issued words of praise, sympathy, or encouragement for the act of terrorism.

ZAKA has been troubled by sex scandals and financial corruption in the past. Yet more recent investigations have shown that its volunteers told of horrendous events “that simply didn’t happen.”

Israeli report: ZAKA ‘used the dead as props’

An in-depth report by liberal Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz identified serious concerns with the ZAKA charity.

On January 31, Aaron Rabinowitz wrote, “The Zaka volunteer group began collecting bodies in the devastated communities of southern Israel immediately after the Hamas attack, while the IDF sidelined soldiers trained to retrieve remains.”

He continued: “An investigation reveals cases of negligence, misinformation and a fundraising campaign that used the dead as props.”

At Kfar Aza, the site of many deaths on October 7, ZAKA volunteers were witnessed smoking and chatting beside a corpse in a ZAKA-branded body bag.

Approaching the group a little more closely revealed that three of the Zaka volunteers were making video calls and videos for fundraising purposes.

According to the non-Zaka observer, the body was part of a staged setting – an exhibit designed to attract donors, just when the race against time to gather and remove the bodies of victims of the massacre was most urgent.

The Ha’aretz report states that ZAKA was doing this to raise funds. The report continued:

‘They opened a war room for donations there,’ said another witness to the event, who has worked throughout the war in the Gaza border communities attacked on October 7.

‘Two weeks later, I saw them acting similarly in Be’eri as well – sitting and making videos and fundraising calls inside the kibbutz.’

The report details how human remains are left behind by ZAKA at sites it declares cleared. Despite this unprofessional dimension to their work, financial pressure on ZAKA appears to have been alleviated by their fundraising efforts.

Before October 7, the organization faced insolvency. In the time since, says a source at Zaka, they have raised over 50 million shekels ($13.7 million).

EXCLUSIVE: Catholic bishop in the Holy Land reveals the war’s devastating impact on Christians

‘Tales of imagination’

In a section titled “Tales of imagination,” the same report details how ZAKA was the source of many fabricated stories.

Kfar Aza and Be’eri were two sites from which ZAKA reported some of the most horrific atrocities against Israeli civilians on October 7.

One described the body of a murdered pregnant woman:

‘We saw a woman, around 30 years old, [and] she was lying on the floor in a large puddle of blood, facing the ground,’ said a Zaka volunteer tearfully in an account posted on Zaka’s social media accounts. ‘We turned her over in order to place her into the bag.

‘She was pregnant,’ he added and stopped to take a breath. ‘Her stomach was swollen, and the baby was still attached by the umbilical cord when it was stabbed, and she was shot in the back of the head. I don’t know if she suffered and saw her baby murdered or not.’

Yet the report notes this did not take place. It was not the only false story from ZAKA:

This horrific incident, which the Zaka volunteer alleged occurred in Be’eri, simply didn’t happen, and was one of several stories that have been circulated without any basis. There is no evidence for this incident, and no one in the kibbutz has heard of this woman. A Zaka senior official admitted in a conversation with Haaretz that the organization knows the incident didn’t occur.

In another video, which features the same volunteer, he describes, weeping, how he found the burnt and mutilated bodies of 20 children in one of the kibbutzim. He told Haaretz that this was behind the dining hall in Kfar Azza, while in another instance, he said it was in Be’eri.

However, the children who were killed in Kfar Azza are Yiftach Kutz, 14, and his brother, Yonatan, 16. Ten children were killed in Be’eri, but at least some were known to have been with a parent and were killed in their homes.

READ: Col. Macgregor: Israel’s actions in Gaza could cause its own destruction, WWIII

IDF connection

Rabinowitz’ report names an IDF soldier whose membership in ZAKA appears to have granted the organization extraordinary access.

Haim Outmezgine, head of Zaka’s ‘special forces,’ serves in the reserves in the Home Front Command’s rescue unit and is one of the senior officials who appeared in this outfit frequently…

Outmezgine, who also produced a music video in the field to support ZAKA, permitted ZAKA access to areas he controlled as an army officer – whilst denying it to rivals.

[H]e was in command of several sites starting from the evening of the attacks – mainly in the area of the party in Re’im, Kfar Aza, and Be’eri. About a month after the start of the war, Outmezgine blocked a volunteer from a rival organization from entering Be’eri, even though the volunteer had received orders from an officer.

The IDF told Ha’aretz that it was investigating the relationship between itself and ZAKA, and promised to publish the results of its findings.

The position of ZAKA in the meantime seems assured, with the Israeli MK (Member of Knesset) responsible for securing their government compensation describing their efforts as a contribution to a sacred mission.

“They were a significant part of the holy work for the people of Israel and worked together with the IDF, so they deserve to be rewarded for their important work,” Passal said.

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