“He’s an idiot”: Ex-Israeli PM Naftali Bennett reacts to Brazilian President Lula accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians

Trigger warning: The following article may trigger some readers. Discretion is advised.

Former Israeli Prime Minister and a key opposition figure Naftali Bennett, in a recent interview with Piers Morgan, discussed several aspects of the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict and offered his opinions on it where he called the Brazilian President Lula da Silva "an idiot."

The ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict started on October 7th when hundreds of Hamas militants attacked Israel from Gaza, resulting in 1200 Israeli citizens killed and more than 250 being taken hostage. In retaliation, Israel attacked Gaza, and more than 30,000 people have been killed so far in the Gaza Strip, as reported by the Gaza Health Ministry.

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What did the Brazillian President Lula da Silva say about the conflict?

International criticism has grown on Israel, with several leaders condemning and criticizing the Jewish state for the approach shown towards human life. Brazilian President Lula da Silva has been the topmost critic of Israel.

Last weekend, Lula took to X and posted,

"What the Israeli government is doing is not war, it is genocide. Children and women are being murdered."

In the same post, he voiced his support for the Palestinian state,

"I am in favor of the creation of a free and sovereign Palestinian State. May this Palestinian State live in harmony with the State of Israel."

When asked by Piers Morgan what he thinks of Lula accusing Israel of genocide, Naftali Bennett responded,

"He's an idiot."

Morgan then asked Bennett if that was all the Israeli opposition figure had to say. Bennet affirmed, "That's it. What can I say?"

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What else did Naftali Bennett say in the Piers Morgan interview?

In the second interview with Piers Morgan after the Gaza conflict began, Naftali Bennett said that the Israel Defence Forces(IDF) 'is performing exceptionally well.' Bennett said that Israel could finish the war in 3 days if it were 'cavalier' about civilian lives. He clarified that the war was prolonged because Israel was preventing any unnecessary deaths of civilian lives in Gaza and would eliminate Hamas from Gaza.

Naftali Bennett compared Hamas with Nazi Germany and said,

"We've learned from history is that when you are working with very radical ideologies you first have to win and then you can start recovering and rebuilding you couldn't start the recovery of Germany without first bringing Germany or the Nazis to a total surrender likewise here we have to defeat Hamas and then we can start the process of uh recovery."

When asked about Lula accusing Israel of committing genocide, Naftali Bennett said,

"I hear this criticism and it's simply Israel hate Jewish hate there's no explanation for someone who can talk about genocide, there's no genocide whatsoever the only genocide that was attempted is when they came in on October 7th to explicitly murder women and children that is an attempt for genocide the only reason it stopped is because of the Israeli Army."

He further said that anyone accusing Israel of genocide is "simply a hypocrite." Some netizens seemed to agree with Naftali Bennett.

Previously, Lula compared Israel's campaign in Gaza to the Holocaust. After Lula's comments, Brazil called their ambassador back. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Lula’s remarks as "disgraceful and grave."