Israeli State Attorney Amit Aisman has requested permission to open a preliminary criminal investigation against Eyal Golan, one of the Jewish state’s most famous musicians, on suspicion of “incitement to violence” against the residents of the Gaza Strip, it was revealed on Monday.
Aisman’s decision stems from remarks Golan made following the Oct. 7 Hamas-led massacre of some 1,200 people, mainly Jewish civilians, in which the popular singer urged soldiers to “wipe out” the terrorist enclave.
“Erase Gaza. Don’t leave a single person there,” Golan told Channel 14 in an Oct. 15 interview, adding, “They are simply human animals, people that came to murder women, children and babies.”
Golan’s remarks were cited earlier this year in South Africa’s case against the Jewish state at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
According to Israel’s Kan News broadcaster, Aisman is also seeking to probe Kobi Peretz, a musician who chanted, “May their village burn, may Gaza be erased,” during a concert for Israel Defense Forces troops in November. Peretz’s words were also quoted in the ICJ application.
Aisman’s requests are awaiting approval from Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who has the final say in the matter.
Last month, Aisman asked Baharav-Miara for approval to open a probe into National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s comments on the war against Hamas, accusing him of “incitement to violence.”
In the 10 months since Hamas murdered some 1,200 people, Ben-Gvir has repeatedly urged the government to eradicate the terrorist organization.
“To destroy Hamas, we have to go into Rafah to the end, do a root canal. To return our hostages, we need to stop the fuel [supply to Gaza], establish that humanitarianism is only for humanitarianism,” the Otzma Yehudit Party leader stated in May remarks from the Temple Mount.
Sources inside Aisman’s office told Kan that the request came against the background of the Jan. 26 International Court of Justice ruling ordering Israel to “punish the direct and public incitement to genocide.”
Responding to the reported criminal probe into Golan’s remarks, Ben-Gvir tweeted on Sunday night, using heart emojis: “Gaza [loves] Aisman, Israel [loves] Eyal Golan.”
Earlier this year, Aisman ordered a probe into three Israelis on charges of “murdering” a terrorist who infiltrated the Jewish state on Oct. 7. According to prosecutors, the three men—who met up after arriving in the south to fight on the morning of Oct. 7— detained a member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force and executed him after an interrogation.
Some 3,000 terrorists, from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah and unaffiliated “civilians,” infiltrated the Jewish state on Oct. 7. The security forces killed approximately a thousand of the terrorists and captured many others.
Israeli ground forces entered Gaza on Oct. 27 following a weeks-long air campaign in response to the Oct. 7 massacre. Jerusalem’s stated goals for the war are to destroy Hamas as a military and governing force in Gaza, ensure that it can not threaten Israel again and return all hostages.