‘I want to see Gaza Strip empty’: Feiglin calls for annexation of region during next gov’t's term

Zehut party chairman Moshe Feiglin, running with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in the October elections, told The Jerusalem Post that Israel should have left Gaza "empty" after the October 7 massacre and annexed the area. Feiglin said the government should have viewed the attack as an opportunity to annex Gaza and open its borders to allow Gazans to leave, arguing that children growing up there would continue to pose a threat. He holds the second slot on the Religious Zionist Party list.

Zehut party chairman Moshe Feiglin, running with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in the October elections, told The Jerusalem Post that Israel should have left Gaza "empty" after the Hamas-led October 7 massacre and annexed the area. Feiglin said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not taken decisive enough military action since the attack. "I want to see Gaza empty. I am not afraid when they're hiding behind their own babies. And this is what they do," Feiglin said. He added, "Occupation, transfer all, all the Arabs. I don't care. They cannot stay there after what they did." Feiglin holds the second slot on the Religious Zionist Party list, meaning he would enter the Knesset if the party passes the electoral threshold. RZP has been polling around four to six seats. Feiglin said he believes the current government should have viewed October 7 as an opportunity to annex Gaza. He said he would have opened Gaza's borders and allowed Gazans to leave, preventing them from remaining in Gaza. "I would open the borders and let them all go, but no one can stay. And it has to be a part of the Jewish state," he said. Feiglin said that this would have sent a message to Israel's enemies that, "when you attack us from any part of the land, you're going to lose it." He also said the government had failed to view October 7 as an opportunity to "take back full control of Gaza" and "get rid of these monsters, Islam Nazi monsters." Feiglin said he hoped to serve as defense minister in the next government. Despite differences with Netanyahu, Feiglin said he would recommend the prime minister over any other candidate, sharply criticizing the opposition bloc and describing its members as left-wing.