Bereaved father files complaint against ex-IDF chief for incitement

Ya’alon’s “statements endanger our heroic soldiers, constitute incitement against the state, and directly harm national security,” says father of IDF soldier killed in the Gaza Strip last year.

By World Israel News Staff

A police complaint was filed by the father of a fallen soldier against a former IDF Chief of Staff and one-time Defense Minister, who recently accused the Israeli army of committing “ethnic cleansing” in the Gaza Strip.

Itzik Bonzel, an attorney whose son, Amit, was killed in battle in December 2023, asked the police to investigate recent remarks made by Moshe “Boogie” Ya’alon, which under Israeli law could be considered incitement or intent to harm state security.

Ya’alon, who was once the IDF’s Chief of Staff and served as Defense Minister nearly a decade ago in a previous government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying in an interview with Democract Tv that the IDF is guilty of ethnic cleansing in the coastal enclave.

Speaking to Channel 12, Ya’alon reiterated his remarks, claiming that “far-right” elements within Netanyahu’s coalition were intructing the IDF to “carry out what are defined as war crimes.”

Ya’alon added that the IDF is “no longer the most moral army in the world.”

In a press statemnet after filing the police complaint, Bonzel said that Ya’alon’s “hatred for Netanyahu has driven him mad, but that’s his problem. Our problem is that his words amount to incitement and harm to state security.”

Bonzel stressed that Ya’alon’s “statements endanger our heroic soldiers, constitute incitement against the state, and directly harm national security.”

The bereaved father emphasized that “the Israel Police and the Shin Bet [must] show the people of Israel that there is no selective enforcement against right-wing activists,” and therefore should “arrest and interrogate individuals like Ya’alon, [Ehud] Barak, and others.”

The attorney urged than “an indictment be filed against Ya’alon for incitement and harming state security.”

“We will no longer sit idly by and allow people like him to trample on the honor of our heroic IDF soldiers,” Bonzel added.