Feiglin Proposes Annexing Gaza Strip, Calls for Removal of Its Population Post-October 7

Zehut party chairman Moshe Feiglin stated in a recent interview with The Jerusalem Post that Israel should have evacuated and annexed the Gaza Strip following the Hamas-led October 7 massacre. Feiglin criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to take sufficiently decisive military measures in the aftermath of the assault.

“I want to see Gaza emptied. I am not afraid when they hide behind their own infants; this is precisely their tactic,” Feiglin stated.

“Full occupation, transfer everyone, all the Arabs. I do not care. They cannot remain there after what they have done,” he said.

Feiglin is contesting the October elections alongside Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionist Party (RZP). The two right-wing leaders have signed an accord to form a technical electoral bloc, permitting them to separate after entering the Knesset.

Holding the second position on the RZP list, Feiglin would secure a Knesset seat provided the party clears the electoral threshold. Current polling estimates place the party at between four and six seats.

Both Zehut and the RZP champion right-wing security agendas, including the annexation of the West Bank and Gaza. Zehut additionally backs libertarian economic policies and the legalization of cannabis.

Government Should Have Leveraged October 7 for Gaza Annexation, Feiglin Argues

Feiglin argued that the current administration should have treated October 7 as a strategic opportunity to annex Gaza.

He contended that children raised in Gaza would perpetuate the threat against Israel, asserting there was no viable path to reform or re-educate them.

“The child born in Gaza tomorrow will commit exactly the same [as the October 7 massacre], God forbid, against the child born tomorrow in Jerusalem,” he said.

“There is no other way. That is why they live; it is what they absorb with their mother’s milk.”

“You cannot change them. You cannot educate them,” he added.

“They openly state they want children killed alongside Jews. This is what Islam entails,” he said.

Feiglin maintained that October 7 demonstrated there was no alternative to his proposed strategy for Gaza.

He proposed opening Gaza’s borders to permit residents to depart, ensuring no one remained in the Strip.

“I would open the borders and let them leave, but no one could remain. It must become part of the Jewish state,” he said.

“We should already have seen the Gush Katif villages rebuilt. We should have witnessed the new Israeli international airport nearly complete in the Gaza Strip,” he added.

Feiglin claimed this approach would have signaled to Israel’s adversaries that any attack launched from Israeli territory results in the loss of that territory.

“And we will expand,” he added.

Feiglin Claims Strategy Would Have Secured Regional Peace

Feiglin asserted that had his approach been adopted following the October 7 attacks, it would have concluded the ensuing war.

“That would have [brought] peace to the entire region because they do not value their own lives,” he said.

He argued Netanyahu’s approach did the opposite, “poured gasoline on the fire and gave them temptation to continue the war because they have nothing to lose.”

“Now, I’m not saying to kill all of Gaza, but you could open the borders and push them out, and the world would accept it,” he said.

He also said that the government had failed to view October 7 as an “opportunity to finish with this concept of [the Oslo Accords] and take back full control of Gaza. And see how we’re getting rid of these monsters, Islam Nazi monsters, and rebuild this land, which is obviously part of Israel.”

Addressing the surge in settler violence in the West Bank, Feiglin said he opposed vigilantism, while contending that Jews residing in the area were acting in self-defense.

“Jews feel that they have to defend themselves. And when the Arab attacks them, they know how to bring the media and immediately give you the end picture where you don’t understand what really happened. And it happens again and again.”

Feiglin expressed hope to serve as defense minister in the next government, believing he is qualified for the role.

Despite existing differences with Netanyahu, Feiglin said he would recommend the prime minister over any other candidate, sharply criticizing the opposition bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu and characterizing its members as left-wing.

“The Left is well represented by [prime ministerial candidate and Yashar party leader Gadi] Eisenkot, and don’t tell me they are not leftists. This is who they are,” he said.

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