Israeli writer says aiding Gaza is like feeding sharks 

An Israeli screenwriter said he backs “exterminating Gazans” as he compared sending aid to Palestinians to “feeding sharks”.

In a Facebook post earlier this week, Gil Kopatz, a screenwriter and actor, wrote: “If you feed sharks, they end up eating you. If you feed Gazans, they end up eating you.

"I am in favour of shark extinction and in favour of exterminating Gazans.”

He concluded the post with: “Reflections on Holocaust Day 2025.”

The comments provoked outrage online and across political circles. Ahmad Tibi, a Palestinian politician with Israeli citizenship, sharply criticised Kopatz.

New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch

Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters

“This is how this Jewish individual marks Holocaust Remembrance Day. Gil Kopatch, you are a neo-Nazi degenerate,” Tibi wrote on X. 

In a follow-up post, Kopatz appeared to double down on his remarks.

“I don’t have even one drop of compassion for Gazans. For Arabs in general, yes. For humans in general, yes. For sharks, no. And not for human animals either,” he said. 

Despite the inflammatory language, Kopatz described himself as a “humane, liberal and moral person”.

“I don’t treat those who grew up in Gaza and have been fed, since childhood, murderous racist hatred towards my family and my brothers and sisters, as human beings,” he added.

“And to wrap up, it is not genocide, it’s pesticide, and it’s essential to do it.”

Since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza in October 2023, Israeli officials and commentators have faced criticism for using increasingly inflammatory and dehumanising language to describe Palestinians in the besieged enclave.

As the ground invasion began, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referenced the biblical tale of Amalek - a move critics described as a “genocidal invocation”.

Former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant referred to Palestinians in Gaza as “human animals” as he announced plans to cut electricity, water and food supplies to the territory in the early days of the war.

Other Israeli ministers have suggested dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza and called for “erasing” the Palestinian enclave “from the face of the earth”. 

middleeasteye.net