Teacher reinstated after dismissal for posts appearing to justify Oct. 7 atrocities

Tel Aviv court rules against decision by Petah Tikva municipality to fire veteran teacher for social media posts about rape, brutal murders perpetrated by Hamas terrorists

A veteran history and civics teacher accused of appearing to justify rape and other atrocities committed by Hamas during its October 7 onslaught was acquitted and reinstated to his job in the central city of Petah Tikva on Monday, according to a report.

The teacher, named as Meir Baruchin, was arrested in November after police received complaints about his posts on Facebook and other social media platforms.

The Tel Aviv District Labor Court on Monday ruled the dismissal wrongful and ordered the Petah Tikva municipality to reinstate Baruchin, after he was fired on October 19 over posts protesting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces, the Haaretz daily reported.

“Israeli soldiers didn’t rape Palestinians? They have since 1948, and this doesn’t make it into the textbooks,” the suspect claimed on a messaging group with other teachers following the outbreak of the war on October 7, apparently commenting on accounts that Hamas terrorists had raped women during their murderous onslaught in southern Israel.

“An occupied nation is allowed to do anything that is needed in order to succeed in its struggle,” he wrote in a separate instance, appearing to justify the atrocities committed by Hamas, whose terrorists murdered around 1,200 people, mostly civilians butchered in their homes and at a music festival, and kidnapped at least 240 to Gaza.

The court also ordered the Education Ministry to wipe the allegations from the teacher’s record so he will be free to work at high schools around the country.

According to the report, the court ruled that posts voicing opposition to the “occupation” — Israel’s military control in the West Bank — do not amount to supporting terror.

Baruchin is a veteran teacher with 30 years’ experience in Israeli secondary schools. Media outlets previously reported that he had a history of expressing support for terror, disparaging security forces, and eulogizing a terrorist.

Police say they are taking a zero-tolerance policy toward incitement to violence and support of terrorism with the war against Hamas in its fourth month.

Michael Horovitz contributed to this report.