A well-known activist in the Likud party, Itzik Zarka with ties to senior politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told protesters against the far-right government on Saturday that “I wish another six million would be burned.”
Itzik Zarka kissing Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset (Photo: Zarka’s Facebook page)
Zarka and his wife Hani are well-connected to senior Likud ministers, and he is often photographed lifting them up in the air or kissing them. In 2020, Likud members including Netanyahu, Economy Minister Nir Barkat, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Transportation Minister Miri Regev, and Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel published videos wishing him a happy birthday and describing him as a “loyal” and “valuable” member of the Likud Party.
“Ashkenazim, whores, may you burn in hell,” Zarka shouted Saturday night to protesters at the Ein HaNatziv intersection near Beit She’an in northern Israel, referring to Jews of Eastern European origin, while standing next to a group holding a sign reading “the people demand judicial reform” and the flag of the racist Lehava movement. “I am proud of the six million that were burned, I wish that another six million would be burned,” Zarka said, referencing the Holocaust. “Leftists are traitors, you are the cancer of the country,” he said, according to videos posted on social media.
Zarka has a long history of violent statements against those who oppose Netanyahu or his government’s policies while still enjoying close ties to senior Likud politicians including the premier, as well as his family. Earlier this year, Zarka began conducting demonstrations blocking the entrances to kibbutzim in northern Israel in protest against anti-judicial reform protests that blocked roads throughout Israel. The demonstrators stopped driver’s car by car and asked them if they supported or opposed the reform. They group threw stones at vehicles and spat at and cursed their occupants.
During protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent years, he was filmed shouting at protesters “Black Flags, these are your burial shrouds,” “may your eyes both fall out,” and “this is the cancer of the country,” among other slogans.
In addition, on Saturday night in the central city of Bat Yam, protesters against the far-right government were attacked by two individuals tore up signs and hit one protester in the face. Police later detained the two. The two drove up to the protesters on the wrong side of the road, exited the vehicle, started tearing up signs and clashed with the protesters hitting one protester in the face.
Saturday’s incidents came as hundreds of thousands rallied across Israel for the 28th weekend of demonstrations against the judicial overhaul. More than 150,000 people attended the main rally on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street, according to Channel 13 news. Protest organizers also announced that they will hold another national “Day of Resistance” slated for this Tuesday, following last week’s “Day of Disruption” where tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated across the country. 120 people were arrested throughout the protests as well.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=31116
