State attorney clarifies no ongoing probes against Eyal Golan, others for incitement
Aisman says he considered investigating several public figures for incitement earlier this year but immediately decided against it; Kan reports MK Keti Shitrit was also scrutinized
State Attorney Amit Aisman said Monday that he is not seeking to investigate pop singers Eyal Golan and Kobi Peretz for incitement to violence against Gazans, and clarified that while he had considered doing so several months ago, the idea was rejected at the time.
Aisman’s statement came after reports earlier this week that his office had recommended investigating the singers. Shortly after the state attorney issued his statement, the Kan public broadcaster reported that Knesset member Keti Shitrit had also been “on the same list” of those recommended for investigation.
Shitrit was reportedly considered for investigation for telling Channel 14, “If you ask me personally, not as a member of the Knesset, I’d flatten Gaza. I have no sentimental feelings about it, because there’s no separating the murderers of women and children from the citizens of Gaza.”
Aisman’s office said that some months ago, as Israel faced pressure at the International Court of Justice, the state attorney had looked into launching incitement probes into several public figures, but eventually decided against it.
“Against the backdrop of claims made against the State of Israel as part of the proceedings at the International Court of Justice in The Hague and other forums,” Aisman said, “the state attorney was asked to prepare a legal report on statements by individuals holding office and others who have influence in Israel.
“The legal report was sent several months ago to the attorney general in preparation for a discussion to be held in The Hague,” Aisman’s office continued. But “in accordance with a decision by the state attorney, we will not open criminal investigations on this matter.
“That decision was made prior to the reports published about the topic in recent days,” the statement noted.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Aisman had recommended investigations into Eyal Golan, for a call to “erase Gaza,” and Kobi Peretz, for telling soldiers at a military base in March, “Let their village burn”— a frequent refrain among extremists, referring to Arab villages.
These reports suggested that the recommendations to investigate the singers had been made recently, and indicated that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara had not yet decided whether to pursue them. On Monday, Aisman clarified that though the recommendations only recently came to light, they have not been actively considered for several months.
It was also reported in July that Aisman sought to investigate National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for incitement to violence against Gazans. It was not immediately clear whether this recommendation is also defunct, though initial reports of that investigation already noted that the move was probably meant as a signal to international courts, which which will largely refrain from pursuing a case against a country if they believe the country capable of launching legal proceedings against its own officials.
Following the report on Monday that she had also been considered for investigation, Likud MK Keti Shitrit shared a screenshot on X of an article quoting Yaron London, an Israeli media personality, who also called to “flatten Gaza,” adding the caption, “Amit Aisman in response: ‘Those were other people.’”
Shitrit also shared the report from Kan about the potential investigation into her, adding “Am Yisrael Chai” (“The people of Israel live”) with an Israeli flag, echoing verbatim the response from Eyal Golan to the report about Aisman’s recommending an investigation into him.
