Israeli PM office deletes ‘children of darkness’ post after backlash over ‘dehumanizing, genocidal’ language
The Israeli Prime Minister's office deleted a post on X after numerous social media users claimed it contained racist, genocidal language.
On X, formerly Twitter, the account shared quotes from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks to the Israeli Knesset, its parliament, which the prime minister made yesterday, at the opening of its assembly.
Netanyahu said, "Hamas is part of the axis of evil of Iran, Hezbollah, and their minions. They seek to destroy the State of Israel and murder us all. They want to return the Middle East to the abyss of the barbaric fanaticism of the Middle Ages, whereas we want to take the Middle East forward to the heights of progress of the 21st century."
In the speech, Netanyahu then said, "This is a struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle."
That post. from the verified "Prime Minster of Israel" account's thread about the remarks, was subsequently deleted.
After it was shared, the post received swift backlash, as people described the language as genocidal and offensive.
"Straight up genocidal language," said one user.
"This is arguably the most racist and dehumanizing tweet I’ve ever seen come out of this account, and that is saying a lot," added another.
Many took offense to the phrases "darkness" and "jungle," which they called both veiled and over racism against the Arab population in Gaza.
"I say this as a Jew who has studied the Holocaust since I learned to read. This is beyond repugnant. This is immoral. There is no innocent way to stand with this genocidal state sponsored hate speech," said another.
Another called it one for the deleted tweet "hall of fame."
Others pointed to reports of child casualties on the Palestinian side, noting that some have estimated at least 1,000 kids in Gaza have died since the conflict began.
"As Israel kills over 1,000 Palestinian kids in Gaza, the Prime Minister of Israel brands them 'children of darkness;" wrote one account.
It is unclear why the Israeli PM's office removed the tweet. The rest of the remarks remain up in the thread and the full text of the speech is available on the Israeli government's website.
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