it s such a pleasure to be back in hardtalk with you, stephen. well, it s a pleasure to have you on the show. let s begin with a very basic fact you are one of your own israeli government s fiercest critics. you have been for a long time. you ve certainly been an arch critic of the israeli military strategy in gaza. given all of that, i just wonder how you feel sitting in tel aviv watching the international court ofjustice consider the case of genocide filed against israel. i was watching it with a lot of sadness, depression and also a sense of shame, i must tell you. you know, my parents came here as refugees, really the ashes of the biggest genocide in history. and here, 80, 90 years later, israel is accused for genocide. i mean, i wish more israelis have at least watched the scenes, at least watch the scenes of gaza. they don t see gaza. i wish they would have seen more of the children on the grounds of the hospitals, the starvation, the destruction. but none of this is
welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it s such a pleasure to be back in hardtalk with you, stephen. well, it s a pleasure to have you on the show. let s begin with a very basic fact you are one of your own israeli government s fiercest critics. you have been for a long time. you ve certainly been an arch critic of the israeli military strategy in gaza. given all of that, i just wonder how you feel sitting in tel aviv watching the international court ofjustice consider the case of genocide filed against israel. i was watching it with a lot of sadness, depression and also a sense of shame, i must tell you. you know, my parents came here as refugees, really the ashes of the biggest genocide in history. and here, 80, 90 years later, israel is accused for genocide. i mean, i wish more israelis have at least watched the scenes, at least watch the scenes of gaza. they don t see gaza. i wish they would have seen more of the children on the grounds of the hospitals, the starvation, the d
gideon levy in tel aviv, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it s such a pleasure to be back in hardtalk with you, stephen. well, it s a pleasure to have you on the show. let s begin with a very basic fact you are one of your own israeli government s fiercest critics. you have been for a long time. you ve certainly been an arch critic of the israeli military strategy in gaza. given all of that, i just wonder how you feel sitting in tel aviv watching the international court ofjustice consider the case of genocide filed against israel. i was watching it with a lot of sadness, depression and also a sense of shame, i must tell you. you know, my parents came here as refugees, really the ashes of the biggest genocide in history. and here, 80, 90 years later, israel is accused for genocide. i mean, i wish more israelis have at least watched the scenes, at least watch the scenes of gaza. they don t see gaza. i wish they would have seen more of the children on the grounds of the hospita
I mean, i wish more israelis have at least watched the scenes, at least watch the scenes of gaza. They dont see gaza. I wish they would have seen more of the children on the grounds of the hospitals, the starvation, the destruction. But none of this is presented here, so theyjust condemn anyone who dares to criticise israel. I dont know if, legally, it is a genocide, but it is a bloodbath. It is a terrible, terrible mass killing. And really, do we care if its legally a genocide or not . The israelis dont mind about the killing, theyjust mind about labelling it as genocide, so. Well, they mind, i guess, for reasons which are, for anyone who knows some history, understandable. I mean, to quote president herzog, your Countrys President , he calls the accusations atrocious
mind about labelling it as genocide, so. well, they mind, i guess, for reasons which are, for anyone who knows some history, understandable. i mean, to quote president herzog, your country s president, he calls the accusations atrocious and preposterous . and you yourselfjust referenced to me your own past. your own parents came from germany and from czechoslovakia. they were fortunate, they survived the nazi holocaust. but much of your wider family did not. you know what genocide means, but it doesn t sound like you share any of the israeli fury about the application of that word to your country. i totally do. but remember that the same president who condemned the international court ofjustice in the hague signed on a rocket aimed at gaza, signed on a bomb