Israeli politician who advocated genocide appointed justice minister

Ayelet Shaked, an advocate of genocide of the Palestinian people, is Israel's new 'justice minister'.

3 min read

11 May, 2015

Ayelet Shaked (R) with Reuven Rivlin, President of Israel [Wikipedia]

An Israeli politician, who once called for the genocide of Palestinian people, has been named as the country's justice minister.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had six weeks from his March election win to name a coalition government and completed the formation late Wednesday, appointing 39-year-old Ayelet Shaked as justice minister.

The appointment comes as Israel's High Court on Monday said it upheld the new government's bid to increase the number of ministers, allowing a crucial bill to go before parliament later in the day.

Who is Ayelet Shaked?

A pugnacious, secular woman in the Jewish Home party, Shaked is known for her extreme, ultranationalist views.

Born in Tel Aviv to a Likud-voting Iraqi father and politically left-wing Ashkenazi mother, Shaked served as an instructor in the Israeli armys' Golani Brigade, where she first became interested in right-wing politics.

She established a right wing extra-parliamentary 'movement for Zionist activity' called My Israel with politician Naftali Bennett, who is also a vocal opponent of a Palestinian state.

As a Knesset member, Shaked also campaigned against illegal immigration from Africa to Israel, saying that it poses a threat to the state.

Shaked made headlines following a Facebook post on June 30 2014, where she likened Palestinians to "snakes" and said all Palestinians should be "eliminated".

If these words had been said by a Palestinian, the whole world would have denounced it
- Turkish President

The post, which was subsequently deleted, but garnered thousands of likes and shares and was also quickly archived, was posted a couple of days before 17-year-old Palestinian teenager Muhammad Abu Khdeir was kidnapped and burned alive by Israeli extremists.

Her post consisted of an excerpt from an article by Uri Elitzur, the late right-wing journalist and leader of the Israeli settler movement, which seeks to colonise Palestinian land in contravention of international law.

"This is not a war against terror, and not a war against extremists, and not even a war against the Palestinian Authority. The reality is that this is a war between two people. Who is the enemy? The Palestinian people. Why? Ask them, they started it" Shaked quoted Elitzur in the post.

The lawmaker also asserted that "the entire Palestinian people is the enemy" and called for its destruction, "including its elderly and its women, its cities and its villages, its property and its infrastructure."

Her disturbing genocidal comments caused outrage.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan compared the comments to Hitler stating "If these words had been said by a Palestinian, the whole world would have denounced it."

Her appointment as justice minister on May 6 angered many as she has no legal background and has promoted several bills that critics say are meant to stifle dovish groups.

Manipulated images of Shaked dressed as a Nazi have since been circulating online, along with past remarks she made about Palestinian militants.

The Palestine Liberation Organisation blasted Israel's "extremist" cabinet, calling it a blow to an already stagnating peace process.

"The face of a new form of racist, discriminatory Israel has been revealed," chief negotiator Saeb Erakat said in a statement.

"The presence of the extremist Shaked, of the ultra-Orthodox and of settlers in the government is proof that it's a government of war, and against peace and stability," Erakat said.