Haaretz journalist Gideon Levy blames Israel for antisemitism on pro-Hamas podcast

“Were there some rapes [on October 7]? I guess there were; I have no proof,” Levy said.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Haaretz journalist Gideon Levy blamed Israel for causing antisemitism on a podcast whose host has expressed sympathy for Hamas and visited the Houthis in Yemen.

Levy, long known for siding with the Palestinians against Israel, told Jackson Hinkle in an interview on his podcast, “Political Targets, “For years, Israeli propaganda was based on a single manipulation, mainly to label criticism of Israel as antisemitism.”

Hinkle, a self-described “conservative Marxist-Leninist,” visited Yemen last month, where he addressed the Houthis and often calls terrorist leaders like the late Yahya Sinwar heroes.

Levy began his comments on the podcast by attacking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and blaming him for the collapse of the hostage release deal, which he alleged was due to the premier’s “political considerations.”

When Hinkle expressed skepticism about accounts and evidence of sexual assault on October 7th, Levy said he believed the crimes did occur, although perhaps it doesn’t matter.

“Does it really matter? I was in the kibbutzim on the 9th of October, and I saw horrible things which I’ve never seen in all my career,” Levy said.

“So, horrible things took place there. They claim there were rapes, and I can only believe because I don’t think there is room to start to put doubts, because there are no doubts that horrible things happened there. Were there some rapes? I guess there were; I have no proof.”

Hinkle characterized Levy’s criticism of the Israeli government and the IDF as “brave” and referred to Zionists as “hardcore genocidal people.

Levy concurred with Hinkle’s claim that Israel dismisses all criticism as antisemitism. “It seems that Israel doesn’t care about fueling it (antisemitism),” he added.

Alleging that claims about antisemitism are merely strategic, Levy said, “This was working excellently; it paralyzed Europe because nobody wants to be labeled as an antisemite. Even in the US, it has an effect, and people are very cautious when criticizing Israel or when giving a platform to someone who wants to criticize Israel.”