Wife of Likud activist denies he was booted from party, claims PM spoke with them

The wife of prominent Likud activist Itzik Zarka on Sunday denied that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered her husband’s removal from the party for telling anti-government protesters he wished “another six million would be burned,” referring to the death toll of Jewish people in the Holocaust.

“No one is getting thrown out, it’s just a condemnation,” Hani Zarka told the Kan public broadcaster. “Everything is all right, Bibi [Netanyahu] spoke with us.”

She insisted that “the story is over” after Zarka issued an apology and claimed he was provoked.

In an official statement, Likud denied Zarka’s wife’s version of the events, adding that it was decided to boot the activist from the party immediately.

Unnamed sources close to the prime minister gave a sarcastic response to Kan: “Yes, the prime minister barely left the hospital and the first person he calls is Itzik Zarka. Come on.”

Netanyahu spent Saturday night at the hospital after dehydrating during a trip to the Sea of Galilee.

איציק זרקא חבר מרכז ליכוד בולט ששרי הליכוד מהללים אותו, איחל הערב את המפגינים נגד ההפיכה המשטרית בצומת עין הנצי"ב שבכניסה הדרומית לבית שאן: "אשכנזים שרמוטות שתישרפו בגיהנום, טפו עליכם. אני גאה על 6 מיליון שנשרפו, גאה!". pic.twitter.com/vAjl8dj7QD

— עדי חשמונאי (@adi_hashmonai) July 15, 2023

The activist’s comments Saturday came amid deep divides and national turmoil set off by the Netanyahu government’s contentious legislative efforts, which have drawn over six months of sustained anti-government protests.

“Ashkenazim, whores, may you burn in hell,” Itzik Zarka shouted at protesters at the Ein HaNatziv intersection near Beit She’an, referring to Jews of Eastern European origin.

“I am proud of the six million that were burned, I wish that another six million would be burned,” Zarka said, referring to the Holocaust.

“Leftists are traitors, you are the cancer of the country,” he could be seen saying in videos posted on social media.

“The black flags [symbols of the protest] are your shrouds. Your legs should be broken with batons, you should be kneecapped. That way you will not go to any demonstration at all,” said Zarka, who was one of a handful of counter-protesters at the junction.

On Sunday morning, Likud party put out a statement saying that Netanyahu had ordered Director-General Zuri Siso to formally remove Zarka from the party.

“We will not accept such shameful behavior in the Likud movement,” the statement read. A spokesman for the party later confirmed that, in keeping with the Likud charter, the move did not go into immediate effect, as it first had to go through the relevant internal procedures.

The Israel Police said an investigation had been opened into Zarka’s remarks.

Zarka later apologized for his words, and claimed he had been provoked.

“It came out of frustration, resentment… I should not have said that disgusting statement,” he told the Ynet news site.

Zarka also apologized in a statement on his Facebook page, but claimed that he had been “attacked by 80-100 people with severe violence” before making the comments, which he claimed were “taken out of context.” While there were police at the scene at the time of the protest, there were no reports of injuries or arrests.

“My grandfather was a Holocaust survivor and we know what Jews of European countries endured in the Holocaust. I apologize from the depths of my soul,” Zarka’s statement read.

Zarka has a long history of violent statements against those who oppose Netanyahu or his government’s policies, while still enjoying close ties to senior politicians including the premier, as well as to his family.

In March, he was a member of a group that threatened drivers at the entrances to two kibbutz communities, due to a belief that residents opposed Netanyahu and his government’s effort to overhaul the judiciary. The group threw stones at vehicles and spat at and cursed their occupants.

Saturday’s incident came as tens of thousands of people rallied across the country for the 28th weekend of demonstrations against the judicial overhaul, with political tensions ratcheting up as the coalition moves ahead with legislation to weaken the courts’ powers.

More than 150,000 people attended the main rally on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street, according to data from Crowd Solutions cited by Channel 13 news.

Protesters there scrawled “Biden save us” on the road, seeking to bring international pressure to bear on Netanyahu’s hardline coalition, recognizing the growing criticism from the US administration over the judicial shakeup.

Anti-government protesters have stepped up their opposition in recent weeks as the coalition advances legislation that would prevent courts from invalidating or even discussing government and ministers’ decisions based on their “reasonableness,” a judicial yardstick.

The government is seeking to pass the bill into law by month’s end, when the Knesset breaks for summer recess.

Saturday’s protesters are a prelude to Tuesday, when demonstrators are planning nationwide rallies and disruptions as they vow to fight the legislation.